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LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
PRINCETON, N. J. 


PRESENTED BY 


eee OA ies 


BY 15d50 .Ho7y 1924 

Harris, Hugh Henry, 1875- 

The organization and 
administration of the 








Ce 
ORGANIZATION AND 
ee OER LON 


OF THE 


Vv 
> 
DEPARTMEN ae eat 


BY HUGH HENRY ate 


A Textbook in Teacher-Train- 
ing, Conforming to the Stand- 
atd Outlined and Approved 
by the Sunday School Council 












Third-Year Specialization Series 


PRINTED FOR 
THE TEACHER-TRAINING PUBLISHING ASSOCITION 
BY THE 


PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE M. E. CHURCH, SOUTH, 
NASHVILLE, DALLAS, RICHMOND, 
SAN FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT, 1924 
BY 
Hucu Henry Harris 


nn ee ee ee ee ee ee 
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 


CONTENTS 


SPECIALIZATION COURSES IN TEACHER-TRAINING 


PAGE 

POOUEO west ET RODUCTION | was ce si Sits pts Pe cates ete 5 
Cuapter I 

VY Pescaee Ott PARZatiONe .Lenearay chisel otc platelet oi 11 
. CHAPTER II 

Merino ese luGrta ittoe ire tr ete aise. 06 eo Ore oe eee 33 


eer iicer! Chaser ler lists sain taie ere u es.» siehedatere 51 
CHAPTER IV 

Ree abe soe L RIC UNION Ue ian ts a Gexripsime atthe a spuivin'e » 70 
CHAPTER V 

ieee army OLS tas ise ee ye, hs ads «2 ay ale oo dele Sobke 86 
CHAPTER VI 

Problems of Department Management and Supervision. 104 


CHAPTER VII 


Leadership Ee a a 2 a oe a 121 
CHAPTER VIII 
GindinesEepvessional Activitiegis .... 42... ohn eee ss 140 


Me CHAPTER IX 
Maidesstoe ate anivest Ment ive: 4 47 oe Petdne< daw a eds 154 
CHAPTER X 
Leadership and Training in Church and Community 
aN: Wig i Let La idee vai TS LR Soa 3 a ee a A 175 


THIRD YEAR SPECIALIZATION COURSES 
IN TEACHER-TRAINING 


CONFORMING TO THE STANDARD AND OUTLINES APPROVED BY 
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL COUNCIL 


For Teachers of Beginners 


A Study of the Little Child. Mary T. Whitley. 

*Story-Telling for Teachers of Beginners and Primary 
Children. K. D. Cather. 

Methods with Beginners. F. W. Danielson. 


For Teachers of Primary Children 


A Study of the Primary Child. Mary T. Whitley. 

*Story-Telling for Teachers of Beginners and Primary 
Children. K. D. Cather. 

Methods for Primary Teachers. Hazel Lewis. 


For Teachers of Juniors 
Junior Department Organization and Administration, Ida 
M. Koontz. 


Other Units in Preparation 

A Study of the Junior Child. Mary T. Whitley. 
For Teachers of Adolescents (intermediates, seniors, and young 

people) 

Psychology of Early Adolescence. E. Leigh Mudge. 

Community Forces for Religious Education (early adoles- 
cence). G. Walter Fiske. 

Community Forces for Religious Education (middle adoles- | 
cence). G. Walter Fiske. 

Organization and Administration of the Intermediate De- 
partment. Hugh H. Harris. 


Other Units in Preparation—For Teachers of Adults 
The Psychology of Adult Life. Theodore G. Soares. 
Principles of Christian Service. Henry F. Cope. 


For Officers 
The Educational Task of the Local Church. W.C. Bower. 


Other Units in Preparation 

N. B.—AIl books listed (with exception of those indicated 
as only in preparation) are available at all of the publishing 
houses listed. 


(4) 





*Identical. 


EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION 


SPECIALIZATION COURSES IN TEACHER- TRAINING 


In religious education, as in other fields of con- 
structive endeavor, specialized training is to-day a 
badge of fitness for service. Effective leadership pre- 
supposes special training. For teachers and adminis- 
trative officers in the Church school a thorough 
preparation and proper personal equipment have be- 
come indispensable by reason of the rapid develop- 
ment of the Sunday school curriculum, which has 
resulted in the widespread introduction and use of 
graded courses, in the rapid extension of department- 
al organization, and in greatly improved methods of 
teaching. 

Present-day standards and courses in teacher-train- 
ing give evidence of a determination on the part of 
the religious educational forces of North America to 
provide an adequate training literature—that is, prop- 
erly graded and sufficiently thorough courses and 
textbooks to meet the growing need for specialized 
training in this field. Popular as well as professional 
interest in the matter is reflected in the constantly 
increasing number of training institutes, community 
and summer training schools, and college chairs, and 
departments of religious education. Hundreds of 
caro ae of young people and adults, distributed 

(5 


6 The Organization and Administration 





among all the Protestant Evangelical churches and 
throughout every State and province, are engaged in 
serious study, in many cases including supervised 
practice teaching, with a view to preparing for sery- 
ice as leaders and teachers of religion or of increasing 
their efficiency in the work in which they are already 
engaged. 

Most of these students and student teachers are 
pursuing some portion of the Standard Course of 
Teacher-Training prepared in outline by the Sunday 
School Council for all the Protestant churches in the 
United States and Canada. This course calls for a 
minimum of one hundred and twenty lesson periods 
including in fair educational proportion the following 
subjects: 

(2) A survey of Bible material, with special ref- 
erence to the teaching values of the Bible as 
meeting the needs of the pupil in successive 
periods of his development. . 

(b) A study of the pupil in the varied stages of his 
growing life. 

(c) The work and methods of the teacher. 

(d) The Sunday school and its organization and 
management. | 

The course is intended to cover three years with 
a minimum of forty lesson periods for each year. 

Following two years of more general study, pro- 
vision for specialization is made in the third year, 
with separate studies for administrative officers 
and for teachers of each of the following age groups: 


Of the Intermediate Depariment 7 


Beginners (under 6); Primary (6-8); Junior (9-11); 
Intermediate (12-14); Senior (15-17); Young Peo- 
ple (18-24), and Adults (over 24). A general course 
on adolescence covering more briefly the whole 
period (13-24) is also provided. Thus the Third Year 
Specialization, of which this textbook is one unit, 
provides for nine separate courses of forty lesson 
periods each. 

Which of these nine courses is to be pursued by 
any student or group of students will be determined 
by the particular place each expects to fill as teacher, 
supervisor, or administrative officer in the church 
school. Teachers of Junior pupils will study the four 
units devoted to the Junior Department. Teachers 
of young people’s classes will choose between the 
general course on adolescence or the course on later 
adolescence. Superintendents and general officers in 
the school will study the four administrative units. 
Many will pursue several courses in successive years, 
thus adding to their specialized equipment each year. 
On page four of this volume will be found a complete 
outline of the Specialization Courses available at the 
time of publication of this volume. 

A program of intensive training as complete as that 
outlined by the Sunday School Council necessarily 
involves the preparation and publication of an equal- 
ly complete series of textbooks covering no less than 
thirty-six separate units. Comparatively few of the 
denominations represented in the Sunday School 
Council are able independently to undertake so large 


8 The Organization and Administration 


a program of textbook production. It was natural, 
therefore, that the denominations which together had 
determined the general outlines of the Standard 
Course should likewise codperate in the production of 
the required textbooks. Such codperation, moreover, 
Was necessary in order to command the best available 
talent for this important task and in order to insure 
the success of the total enterprise. Thus it came 
about that the denominations represented in the Sun- 
day School Council, with a few exceptions, united in 
the syndicate production of the entire series of 
Specialization units for the Third Year. 

The preparation of these textbooks has proceded 
under the supervision of an editorial committee rep- 
resenting all the codperating denominations, The 
publishing arrangements have been made by a simi- — 
lar committee of denominational publishers likewise 
representing all the codperating churches. Together 
the editors, educational secretaries, and publishers 
have organized themselves into a voluntary associa- 
tion for the carrying out of this particular task, under 
the name Teacher- Training Publishing Association. 
The actual publication of the separate textbook units 
is done by the various denominational publishing 
houses in accordance with assignments made by the 
Publishers’ Committee of the Association. The 
enterprise as.a whole represents one of the largest and 
most significant ventures which has thus far been 
undertaken in the field of interdenominational co- 
operation in religious education. The textbooks in- 


Of the Intermediate Department 9 


cluded in this series, while intended primarily for 
teacher-training classes in local churches and Sunday 
schools, are admirably suited for use in interdenomi- 
national and community classes and training schools. 

This volume is the third in a series of four units of 
specialized study for workers with Intermediates, 
ages 12-14. These workers will find in the present 
volume well-thought-out guidance in the specific 
problems involved in the organization and adminis- 
tration of. the Intermediate Department. Workers 
who are alive to the potentialities of the Intermediate 
age in the gradual unfolding of Christian character 
and are eager to inaugurate an effective program of 
religious education which will be dynamic in the lives 
of Intermediates will rejoice in the helpfulness of 
this text. 

For the Teacher-Training Publishing Association, 

HENRY H. MEYER, 
Chairman Editorial Commtttee. 
E. B. CHAPPELL, 
Editor. 





THE ORGANIZATION AND ADMINIS- 
TRATION OF THE INTERMEDIATE 
DEPARTMENT 


CV i od OY SR 


PRINCIPLES OF ORGANIZATION 


UnpER the plan of the International Sunday 
School Council of Religious Education, representing 
the various Protestant denominations, the member- 
ship of the church school is divided into the following 


groups: 
Corresponding 


Name of Group Ages Included Grouping. 
Cradle Roll Birth - 3, yrs. Kindergarten, 
Beginners’ Department 4and 5 yrs. 1st, 2d, 3d grades 
Primary Department 6, 7, and 8 yrs. 4,5 and 6grades 
Junior Department 9,10, andilyrs. 7th, 8th, grades 
Intermediate Depart- 12, 13,and14yrs. and 1st, yr.H.S. 

ment EPR Ly COPIES STs | 
Senior Department 15, 16, and 17 yrs. and 4th, yrs. 

College, profes- 

Young People and 18 - 24 yrs. sion or business 

Adult Department 25 to death home-making. 


Where junior and senior high schools exist, it 
will be noted that the Intermediate Department of 
the church school corresponds exactly to the junior 
high school. It is also well to notice that under the 
old Sunday-school classification intermediate pupils 
ranged in ages from thirteen to sixteen. In nearly 
all schools to-day boys and girls as young as twelve © 


(11) 


12 The Organization and Administration 





are in this department, while some as old as sixteen 
may still be found in the group. 

The task before us is to consider the principles of 
organizing and the means of administering the edu- 
cational program of the church school for all those 
boys and girls who are about twelve to fourteen 
years of age. The characteristics of these pupils are 
sufficiently distinct for the group to be set off from 
the remainder of the school asa department. Teach- 
ers and officers in smaller schools where necessity 
compels intermediates and seniors to be grouped 
together will find in this book help in organizing such 
a department, especially as regards the younger 
element in it. | 

The conviction that these pupils Poul be ina 
department separate from the remainder of the 
school is a clear indication of the seriousness with 
which religious workers are viewing the problems 
that arise in the lives of these boys and girls. It 
indicates further that their training must be handled 
differently from those in the department just below 
them and just above. They constitute a group to 
themselves, needing thorough understanding and_ 
skillful handling if the church would do them justice. 
Nevertheless, it must be remembered that they are 
still a part of the school, for the general management 
of which the church is responsible; they, in turn, 
must be trained to become increasingly responsible 
for the larger organization through enlarging par- 
ticipation in it. | 


Of the Intermediate Department 13 





THE CHURCH ORGANIZING ITs FORCES 


The authority and responsibility of the church 
toward the department is exercised through the 
department counselor or superintendent. He is 
chosen by the general superintendent and council 
of the Sunday school, subject to the approval of the 
governing board of the church. He needs to be one 
who has genuine and intelligent sympathy with the 
young, a leader by force of his personality and power 
to win support, one whose inward sense.of justice is 
evidenced in both word and deed, and one who by 
experience knows something of the lives of boys and 
girls to-day. On this choice depends in largest 
degree the success, or failure of the department. 
With the approval of the general superintendent he 
selects the teachers. His wisdom in choosing them 
materially affects the ability of the church to do its 
work of religious education with this group. The 
teachers and the counselor represent the church in 
its capacity as the religious educator of youth. 

The organization of the department from the point 
of view of the church organizing itself for a special 
task may be thus described: The church board of) 
religious education is the delegated organ of the 
church charged with the duty of providing religious 
education for all groups; the pastor is the head of 
this as of all similar executive departments of the 
church; the superintendent has laid upon him the 
special duty of creating the organization and direct- 
ing the personnel of the church school; the superin- 


14 The Organization and Administration 





tendent of the Intermediate Department, as the 
appointee of the general superintendent and the 
church-school council, is charged with organizing 
and executing the work of religious education among 
the boys and girls from twelve to fourteen years of 
age, and, as his immediate representatives and par- 
ticipants in the task, he selects the teachers, Thus 
the department is thoroughly organized from the 
administrative view of the church. A diagram may 
make the relations thus described more clear: 


‘Authorized Church Board or 
Committee on Religious Education 
eS ee eee 


i 
The Pastor 


The General Superintendent 


| 


Superintendents Counselor (Superintend- Superintendents 
of Beginners, ent) of the Intermediate Young People’s 


Primary, and Department Senior, and 

Junior Depart- | Adult Depart- 

ments Teachers of Department ments 
Classes 


Such a diagram needs some explanation, lest too 
much be taken for granted. For instance, this is 
not (need one remind himself?) a military organiza- 
tion; it is a group of voluntary workers bent on 
giving the best possible service to God through the 
church school. Consequently, while the general 
superintendent is general of the whole enterprise, 
his authority is that of one among equals rather 
than that of an autocrat. Further, if he is wise and 


Of the Intermediate Department 15 


has chosen capable department superintendents he 
will permit each of them large autonomy in his own 
department. How the Intermediate Department 
shall be organized, aside from the fact that as a 
school it is to provide adults who can teach, is left 
to the wisdom of the group. 


THE AIMS OF THE DEPARTMENT 


Before one can be certain of what form of or- 
ganization is best, one must be clear as to its aim or 
end. What is to be accomplished by it? What 
purpose will it serve? The answers will serve as 
guides in formulating the further provisions of the 
proposed scheme. 

1. Obviously Christian character is the great 
objective. What is to be done must be determined 
by that aim and its success or failure measured in 
terms of this sort of product. 

2. ‘‘Provide opportunity for planning programs, 
choosing objectives, and determining methods’’— 
that is, opportunities for self-directed activities. 

3. “Provide training in leadership and in co- 
operation.” 

4. Provide opportunities for increasing one’s 
knowledge of the Christian life and skill in living it. 

At first glance it may seem that this overhead 
organization is sufficient. The general superintend- 
ent has charge of the entire school, is responsible 
for its conduct and welfare, and, under the church 
board, is final authority. Under him the superin- 


16 The Organization and Administration 








tendent, or counselor, of the department has charge 
of the department, is responsible for its conduct, 
and is final authority and executive. In each class 
is the teacher who is charged with the task of in- 
struction and also of the organization and adminis- 
tration of his pupil group. From the viewpoint of 
administration it is quite sufficient; but from the | 
point of view of religious education it is inadequate. 
Such ends as are here enumerated can hardly be ~ 
wrought in the fullest sense except as the pupils are 
organized into a codperating whole, with officers, 
committees, programs, and objectives of their own 
choosing. Some reasons for this statement follow. 


Tue NECESSITY FOR SELF-ORGANIZATION 


First, the superintendent of the department is 
or should be the counselor of the pupils rather than 
the dictator. They have reached the age when self- 
expression is seeking an outlet. Efforts at self- 
direction are not confined to any one department of 
their lives. Every school-teacher and all thoughtful 
parents are familiar with the emergence of this new 
personality. John and Elizabeth, who have been 
such docile, easily led children, at twelve or soon 
thereafter begin to show an unwillingness to take 
the advice of others, to follow blindly the conven- 
tions, to be satisfied with the say-so of their adult 
guides. They wish to choose for themselves, 16 act 
according to their own opinions. This is the be- 
ginning of that self-directed adult life toward which 


Of the Intermediate Department 17 


we all should move if we are ever to escape from 
childhood’s estate to full-grown manhood and 
womanhood. This restlessness explains many of 
the discordant notes in adolescent life, and full 
recognition of the new impulses is the best means 
for entering sympathetically and helpfully into the 
growing experience of the young. 

In the religious experience of early adolescents 
the religion of external authority belonging to child- 
hood is rapidly being outlived, to be superseded, 
under right conditions, by the religion of internal 
authority. Indeed, the best way to help these young 
lives pass from the externally controlled living of 
their earlier days to the self-directed living of later 
experience is to lead them and guide them as friend, 
companion, and counselor. But if external authority 
as vested in the superintendent is to be withdrawn, 
some other authority more nearly representing the 
pupils’ will must take his place. 

At this point is grave danger—the danger of 
thinking that setting up a machine is the same as 
having that machine function. Some think that they 
attain their aim of self-directed and spontaneous 
group religious living when a few pupil officers have 
been elected and some committees appointed. 
Nothing is further from the truth. The end sought 
by those who would aid these pupils is growth in 
knowledge, in spiritual attainment, in efficient 
Christian living. Of course, this end is possible in 
the early teens only as the compulsion of childhood 

2 


18 The Organization and Administration 


yields to voluntary and glad acceptance of Christian 
ideals, and as constant practice in Christian living 
results in efficiency. No organization will guarantee 
this, nor will its absence prevent it. What will 
insure the fulfillment of such an ideal is the constant, 
intelligent, sympathetic fellowship with these pupils 

f counselor and teachers, good teaching, lessons 
fitted to their mental and religious needs, and. ef- 
fective stimulation, with opportunities to put the 
Christian ideals and sympathies into action. And 
all this can be done with no more organization than 
has been already described, for it is the wisdom and 
personality of those who are to guide these youths 
that count for most. — 

But many have found that some simple student — 
organization best enables the pupils to express them-. 
selves religiously, best secures that interest and 
codperation necessary to real community living, 
and best -makes possible indirect guidance and 
leadership by teachers and superintendent. Hence 
it is that further organization is advised; but it must 
be not merely “‘paper’’ organization. 

A second consideration arises out of a new con- - 
ception of the work of this department. So long as 
our church-school leaders went no further in their 
concept of worship as a means of religious education 
than to believe that one mass gathering of the en- 
tire school sufficed, this department could disimiss 
its responsibility for the worship life of its pupils. 
At most, loyalty to the mass gathering was all that 


Of the Intermediate Department 19 





was demanded. But it has been discovered that 
training in worship is as important as class instruc- 
tion. Such training cannot properly be given in a 
service over which the department has no control. 
To make worship vital and spontaneous it must be 
the product of those worshiping. Hence, it has been 
found expedient to have such organization as shall 
care for the awakening interest in the worship of the 
department. 


Similarly recreation for the department is doubly 
interesting when provided by its members. What 
training in sharing one’s pleasure comes from pro- 
viding the program for a hike, a social evening, a 
dramatic representation! And the service activities, 
those deeds of helpfulness—how they must be 
planned! Why not, say those who have tried, train 
the young to plan their own program of service, so 
that the deeds, from the initiation of the idea to 
its execution, shall be theirs? To develop such 
codperative living needs some machinery, some 
organization. Hence, again, workers are finding 
the organized department, with organized classes, 
the best method for accomplishing their aims. 


THE OFFICERS OF THE DEPARTMENT 


The form of the student organization of the de- 
partment should be as simple as possible consistent 
with good work. It has been found much better to 
have real working officers, who shall have responsi- 
bilities that they must perform than to have many 


20 The Organization and Administration 





honorary positions meaning little or nothing to their 
holders. There is no educational value in holding a 
position except as the position means responsibility. 
Four officers only are needed. These are president, 
vice president, secretary, treasurer. They should be 
elected semiannually by the pupils. Other officers 
may be chosen as the occasion arises. 

The president is the executive head elected by the 
department. He can perform his duties and gain 
his training in leadership only if and only so far as 
the superintendent of the department becomes in 
reality a counselor. Rare occasions may arise upon 
which, in behalf of the good of the entire school, 
the counselor must exert his executive authority 
derived from the church; but those occasions should 
be rare indeed. In general the conduct of depart- 
mental worship, the task of presiding at business 
sessions, and the general oversight of the work of 
the department should fall upon the president. 

The vice president performs the duties usually 
falling to such an officer. In the president’s absence 
he performs the duties of chief executive. It is well 
for the president to give way to the vice president 
occasionally in order to train him in the work of 
leadership. 

The secretary keeps all records of the department, 
cares for the correspondence, and performs the usual 
tasks belonging to his office. What records he shall 
keep will be considered later. In some large de- 
partments, especially if the seniors and intermediates © 


Of the Intermediate Department ahi 


are together, two secretaries are chosen, one record- 
ing and the other corresponding. Usually one officer 
will suffice. 

The treasurer keeps account of all moneys re- 
ceived and all accounts paid. He is the source of 
information on all financial matters. He should 
report from time to time what the department is 
doing with its contributions, that all giving may be- 
come truly educational. His books are the property 
of the department, open to the inspection of its 
- members at all times. 


CHOOSING PUPIL OFFICERS 


Many have questioned the advisability of per- 
mitting pupils so young to choose their own officers. 
Instead these cautious souls would make elections in 
the department really the voice of the superin- 
tendent-counselor and his adult advisers. Such 
procedure is fundamentally false to all the ideals 
involved in self-direction. Rarely will it be found 
that the pupils of these ages wish to ignore the larger 
experience of their leaders. The happy solution is 
reached not in any well-wrought-out machinery of 
direction but in a personal contact between the 
adults and their pupils which will naturally and 
easily lead to exchange of ideas and to a community 
of purpose. : 

Practically it is well to have appointed before 
every election a nominating committee that shall 
bring to the meeting a suitable list of provisional 


22 | The Organization and Administration . 


candidates. Upon this committee may be one adult 
who, if wise, will counsel when asked but will in no 
wise endeavor to dictate. Elections should be held 
at some week-day business meeting, and every 
member of the department, adult and pupil, should 
be eligible to vote. 


THE COMMITTEES OF THE DEPARTMENT 


The number of permanent or standing committees 
in the department is determined by the size of the 
group and by the stability of the organization. The 
difficulty of standing committees, as so often said, 
is that they stand and do nothing else. Moreover, 
intermediates are still too young to hold their in- 
terests and enthusiasms for a long period of time. 
The experience of many has led them to recommend 
temporary or short-time committees and to use 
standing committees only where such groups actually 
engage continuously at their task. 

To illustrate: Some would make the ccoeeatiaued 
life of the department largely dependent on the 
counselor and his council, while for each recreational 
event a special or temporary committee is appointed. 
Others, with better organization and longer training 
of the pupils in committee work, have found the 
permanent recreational committee capable, with 
adult advice, of planning the’ continuous program 
of recreation for the entire six months. 

The ‘same divergence is found regarding a per- 
manent worship committee. Some contend for a 


Of the Intermediate Department 23 


new committee, appointed week by week or, at most, 
month by month; while others have successfully 
worked out the worship program with a standing 
committee of worship. 

Let us then note the possibilities of committee 
organization, realizing that local circumstances and 
the personal ability of the pupils will have to de- 
termine the exact direction taken in a given case. 

The following may be considered an adequate 
organization of the department: (1) the council; 
(2) the executive committee; (3) the program or 
worship committee; (4) the membership committee; 
(5) the service committee; (6) the recreation com- 
mittee. . 

1. The department council—The council of the 
department is composed of all pupil and adult 
officers of the department, all teachers, and all 
officers of the various classes. Ina large department 
this will constitute a considerable group. In small 
departments it will be of a size to make unnecessary 
a special executive committee. 

The president of the department presides at the 
council meeting. The business of the department 
which can be better projected through the council 
than through the business meeting of the entire 
group should be cared for here. Reports of progress, 
projection of new plans, adjustments of difficulties, 
and all matters that should be considered by the 
executives should here be given full consideration. 
This is the clearing house of the department. The 


24 The Organization and Administration 





adults in the council meeting sit as equals with their 
pupil officers and together with them work out the 
plans and adjust matters for the welfare of the de- 
partment. 

The recommendations of the council should be 
carried back to the general meeting of the entire 
department for adoption except in those cases in 
which the department has delegated to anne council 
its powers. 

2. The executive committee —In ideee yaa hg 78 
as already indicated, the executive committee (com- 
posed of the officers of the department and the coun- 
selor ex officio) may act for the department in the 
interim of its business meetings. In this committee — 
the president presides; reports may be heard, pro- 
grams laid out, and plans formulated, all being sub- 
ject to the approval and adoption of the council or 
of the whole department. 

3. The program or worship committee —The chair- 
man of this committee is the vice president of the 
department. With him labor two or four other 
student members appointed by the president or 
elected by the department, and a teacher as ex- — 
officio member. Their duty is to plan the worship 
programs for the six months they remain in office, 
to see that those appointed to participate are made 
acquainted with their assignments, and to see that 
the president, as presiding officer on Sunday morning, 
has sufficient knowledge of the program to lead it 
well. 


Of the Intermediate Department 25 


4. The membership committee—The membership 
committee is composed of a chairman, appointed by 
the president, and two or four other members. One 
teacher should be appointed as advisory member 
of thig committee also. The duties of this committee 
are to enlist new members, to look up absentees and 
secure their immediate return to the department, 
to welcome new members and visitors, and to sug- 
gest to the council or to the executive committee 
plans for making the department more efficient in 
enlisting and holding members. 

5. The service committee-—The service committee 
is formed like the committee just described. Its 
duties are to plan programs of service, including 
missionary endeavor and community welfare and 
betterment, and to see that such programs when 
adopted by the department are carried into effect. 
A discussion in detail of what these service activities 
are will be found in the chapter on ‘‘Guiding Ex- 
pressional Activities.” 

6. The recreation committee —Like the membership 
and service committee the recreation committee is 
composed of a chairman, an ex-officio member, and 
two or four other members, appointed by the presi- 
dent or elected by the department. Their duties are 
to provide for the recreation activities of the depart- 
ment, planning ahead for the six months, so that all- 
round recreational life may be enjoyed. Recreation 
should include not alone amusement but social life, 
reading, nature study, athletics, sports, and all 


26 The Organization and Administration 
similar undertakings. The purpose is to minister 
to the good fellowship of the group and to train in 
recreational leadership—a form we service greatly 
needed in these days. 

7. Short-time committees —Where only one er two 
standing committees are desired, as before indicated, 
much may be accomplished through short-time com- 
mittees. Often much of the recreational life of in- 
termediates can best be cared for through the class 
organizations. In this case the occasional recreation 
of the entire department may be planned and cared 
for by a temporary committee; likewise with mem- 
bership and with worship programs. A large latitude 
is needed to leave room for experimentation. In 
any event these short-time committees will give 
training in codperative thinking and working and 
will be excellent means for developing leadership 
as well as for discovering latent talent in the group. 
The interests at this age are too fleeting, too quickly 
aroused, and too hastily dissipated to warrant too 
much permanent committee work.) 


ORGANIZATION A MEANS, NoT AN END 


Need we remind ourselves that organization is 
never an end but always and only a means? The 
organized department is organized to do something, 
not to furnish the novel sensation of holding office. 
What an organization is to do determines the choice 
of officers and of committees. To maintain its ex- 
istence it must retain its pupils, and to share the - 


Of the Intermediate Department 27 


good life with others of their own age and community 
it must seek new members; hence the membership 
committee. As Christians or those maturing toward 
the Christian goal they must put their ideals into 
practice through service; hence the service com- 
mittee. And that all may work harmoniously and 
efficiently, the department must run smoothly and 
efficiently, all codperating to one common end; 
hence the executive committee or council. One 
need not be surprised to find an unused paper or- 
ganization dying or dead; indeed, one need shed no 
tears over its death. An organization is good for 
nothing but to be buried except as it puts people to 
work, thinking, planning, and acting for the common 
good. 

| CLASS ORGANIZATION 


Shall the classes become self-organized groups? 
To those who see cogent reasons for self-organization 
and self-directed activity in the department the 
answer is obvious. If the end we seek as leaders is 
not to do something for these pupils but toaid them 
to achieve self-control and self-direction, then as 
teachers we shall take our places as counselors in 
our classes. We shall encourage just so much or- 
ganization as the pupils can utilize. 

Intermediates are at what has been called the 
gang age; that is, small groups of boys enjoy each 
other’s society, submit to the leadership, sometimes 
the tyranny, of their leader, and thus begin the larger 
socializing processes that end in citizenship, business 


28 The Organization and Administration 
Ee ee ibn ASL MM 
cooperation, religious affiliation, and other forms of 
social existence. Girls are inclined less to the more 
inclusive gang but more to the exclusive clique. 
In these tendencies are found the natural social 
formation for the organized class. Class conscious- 
ness and class interest are stronger than depart- 
mental allegiance. The avenue of most natural 
approach to the social experience of these years, 
then, lies through class organization. Details con- 
cerning class organization will be found in a succeed- 
ing chapter. | 
Résumé OF ORGANIZATION 

It is now time to develop the diagram of organi- 
zation to new lengths to embody the ‘ideas of group © 
self-government. It may be done in the following 
fashion: 


Of the Intermediate Department. 29 





PLAN FOR ORGANIZATION OF THE INTERMEDIATE 
DEPARTMENT OF THE CHURCH SCHOOL 


Officers of the Department 


| | 





Representing the church Representing the de- 
school (acting largely partment (initiating 
in an advisory capac- and executing its 
ity) plans) 
Authorized church board Department officers 
Pastors! : President 

| Vice president 
General superintendent Secretary 
Treasurer 


of the church school 


Department superintendent or counselor” 


Teachers 





Department council 


Committees of the department 
Executive 
Program or Worship 
Service 
Membership 
Recreation 

Class organizations® 


‘In churches employing a director of religious education, 
if a minister, he may have delegated to him the authority 
and responsibility lodged at other times in the pastor. 
Whether minister or layman, he may be the actual general 


30 The Organization and Administration. 





Let it be noted that the power of self-direction is 
acquired slowly and with difficulty. We achieve 
freedom rather than being born with it. Hence 
it is that the younger and less experienced the 
pupils, the more will the superintendent or coun- 
selor. of the department and his teachers have 
to be both the stimulators of ideas and ideals and 
the executives of departmental and class activ- 
ities. To form a group into an organization, in- 
stead of relieving the adult officers of responsi- 
bility, tends to increase their labors. It is vastly 
easier with one’s adult experience to plan the pro- 
grams and to see that they are carried out than to 
suggest, coach, lead, urge, and finally succeed in 
getting the pupil-officers to do their duty. But the 
easier is not the wiser. Let no one organize his de- | 
partment or class and think that thereupon he can 
trust the youthful members, official and unofficial, 
to formulate plans and carry them to happy fruition. 


superintendent of the church school. In either case his po- 
sition is that of an adviser of the department rather than that 
of an executive. 

The department superintendent or counselor joins in his 
office the two functions of adviser and executive. As repre- 
sentative of the general superintendent and of the church 
school he is the executive; but in practical experience his 
influence is best felt as the counselor or adviser of the pupils. 

3In intermediate classes the recreational life is largely 
planned by the teacher. Inexperience requires that the re- 
sponsibility must rest here, although temporary committees 
for this or that “‘affair’’ are most desirable. 


Of the Intermediate Department 31 





Instead he will need to be all the more on the alert 
to make success possible. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. How far do the pupils in your Intermediate 
Department correspond to the age in the early 
adolescent group? 

2. Why should tne Intermediate Department be 
organized? 

3. Name the officers of such a department and 
give the duties of each. 

4, What standing committees should the depart- 
ment have and what are the duties of each? 

5. What is the position and what are the duties 
of the counselor in the department? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. If the Intermediate Department in your school 
is not organized, discuss with the counselor what 
advantage would arise from organization; first, to 
the department; secondly, to the counselor and 
teachers. If organized, learn how far the organi- 
zation is real and what results have been obtained. 

2. How far have individual members shown ability 
to plan and execute simple activities for department 
or class? 

3. Should the case of disciplining a difficult pupil 
be brought before the department council? Or 
should it be handled by the teacher? Or should 
the superintendent or counselor of the department 
handle it? 

4. Should these pupils in their business sessions 
discuss the lesson materials for the ensuing months? 
Should they be permitted to determine lesson 
material? 


32 The Organization and Administration 


5. Suppose the program committee falls down 
on the job; whose task is it to make and carry out 
the worship program on Sunday morning? Would 
making the chairman of that committee responsible 
for that morning’s service tend to correct his care- 
lessness in the future? Should the worship training 
of the department be allowed to suffer because of 
the committee’s neglect? 

6. Should the membership committee confine 
itself to the task of enlisting members for this de- 
partment only? Suppose some one of this committee 
should run across a new family in the neighborhood; 
should he report to other departments the names 
and addresses of those in the family not included 
within the age limits of his department? Why? 

7. If the newly elected president proves incapable, 
what should be done? Who should’ determine his © 
capability? Who has power to remove him? 

8. How should the treasurer be prevented from 
being tempted by the moneys placed in his hands? 
Is there temptation at this point? 

9. Are the mistakes and blunderings of an or- 
ganized intermediate group a part of their education? 
How far should the innocent members of the group 
be compelled to suffer at the hands of inexperienced 
leaders? 

10. What are some of the tests by which you will 
determine whether your organization is successful? 


CHAPTER II 
PRINCIPLES OF GRADING 


THE first problem of administration confronting 
department leaders is to group pupils in a manner 
most conducive to their intellectual, moral, and 
religious development. Such grouping is what is 
known as grading. Grading consists in putting 
_ together those of like mental development to the 
end that instruction shall go forward most rapidly. 
To place in the same class pupils twelve years old 
and those fourteen means that the younger ones will 
find the lesson presentation over their heads and, 
hence, that they will lose interest; or else, in trying 
to reach these younger pupils, the discussion will 
become too simple, too immature for those older. 
In using age as the basis of the first rough classifi- 
cation it must be remembered that differences in 
pupils are not all determined by the calendar. 
Averages never take account of individual differ- 
ences. Some thirteen-year-olds may be _ behind 
twelve-year-olds or ahead of others who are fourteen. 
The less developed will with difficulty discuss either 
lessons or midweek activities in an interesting way 
with those whose age compels a different viewpoint. 
If for no other reason than the happiness afforded 
the pupils themselves grading should be taken 
seriously and carried out most carefully. In fact, 


3 (33) 


34 The Organization and Administration 


the purpose of grading, conceived from the pupil’s 
angle, is the greatest happiness to the greatest 
number. 

ANNUAL PROGRESSION 


Theoretically we advance year by year to new 
attainments, each step in the progress being marked 
by a distance that puts us beyond those following in 
our footsteps. Public education has long since 
divided its student body and its course of studies 
into years, each year making advancement toward 
a new grade. While any mechanical system is open 
to serious criticism, this scheme is the best yet de- 
vised for ‘‘average’’ conditions, and the church 
school does well to follow the largé Ko of. 
general education. 

This is no argument for grading in the church 
school, for we have long passed the day when the 
value of grading is debatable. Opinions as to the 
best methods of grading still vary; but that grad- 
ing the school is the best means of directing the 
educational progress of the young had been demon- 
strated beyond need of further proof. It is clear,. 
then, whether a school is rural or urban, whether 
large or small, that the first task of the leaders of 
the Intermediate Department is to see that the pu- 
pils are arranged in such order according to devel- 
opment as shall make successful teaching possible. 

Let us suppose that a Sunday school is ungraded. 
How shall one go about to classify the intermediate ° 
pupils? 


; Of the Intermediate Department 30 
pean enn N OAM AN ANS OP NORRIS GT AN ns TRY 

The first step in classification: registration—The 
first step is to obtain an exact record of each pupil 
who seems to belong to this group—that is, all those 
from twelve or thereabouts up to fifteen years old. 
This information may be placed upon cards for future 
use of the department and should obtain at least the 
following data:! 


Pate ee LON: CART) Veh ti teers Bea G CHURCH SCHOOL 


1. Last name..., first name..., middle name...... 
pBorns yee. uit. Mon Chi Ale ay aniitenis) AL: 
Permbered Churcheschoolsd veaserreceivica exten) Mivinctoveune. 


MEG GOOM OTA CME Rc Plats Gil coher fhe tats ee aN 
MirrcoIployedy DOS TION Neal Lite kee 2S. GOP). 
mAseip ned ito tan 82 yi. Dealeep. classi“ ane. 
BENG OESS icc mrs Poe Sot iiod: Weve: be Bae Het ph 


OOO NTO ib w to 
@) 
3 
or 
a) 
~ 
° 
_—, 
° 
=s 
= 
Va) 
0 
7 


Items 1 to 7 on this card may be obtained at once; 
item 8 will be filled in when classification is made. 
Items 9 and 11 should be entered with pencil, per- 
mitting such changes as time discovers. This regis- 
tration card is of use not only in grading an ungraded 
school but should be used also to record the facts 


1Other items may be added to the registration card, such as: 
renee bers Ol) fatisly..cs.. ck. tee. oe et. 
Member of church....... Member of....Department of 
church school. 
The purpose of such items is obvious. 


36 The Organization and Administration 


-_————_—. 


about each new pupil after grading has been under- 
taken. 

With these data in hand classification becomes 
fairly simple. All those twelve years old are first- 
year intermediates, those thirteen second-year inter- 
mediates, and soon. Putting together those twelve, 
thirteen, and fourteen, we have the membership of 
the Intermediate Department. 


The second step: sex segregation a hhe next step 
in classification consists in putting all girls of the 
same age into one group and all boys of the same age 
into another. During the intermediate years boys 
and girls wish to be in separate classes. Sex at- 
traction has not yet reached the point where too 
great proximity is desired by either sex. Further, 
in behalf of good teaching, and especially in behalf 
of greater freedom in class discussion, separation of 
the sexes should if possible be maintained. Some of 
the most serious problems in these years have to do 
with the relations of the two groups to each other; 
hence, free discussion is possible only where separa- 
tion is maintained. Group activities, such as hikes © 
and athletics, are best developed in separate groups. 

The third step: selection of class groups —The third 
step in classification is to determine the size of the 
classes and to select the membership of each class. 
Intermediate classes should not exceed ten pupils 
to the class. The need of close personal friendship 
makes the smaller groups more desirable. Better 
start the class with not more than six pupils, leaving 


Of the Intermediate Department ai 


room for the membership to add more members be- 
fore division becomes necessary, than start with the 
full number and pull the class to pieces as soon as a 
good beginning is made. Leaders in public in- 
struction have learned the fallacy of believing that 
the best teaching is dependent on large classes. 

In choosing the members of a particular class it 
is well to keep in mind that a happy and contented 
pupil is always to be desired. Better work is accom- 
plished, and there is less friction to overcome. There- 
fore, put those together who are mentally enough 
alike to be congenial, so that the rules of good grading 
are not violated. If, therefore, there are already 
evident lines of association or lines of cleavage, then 
follow these lines of natural association in grouping 
pupils. 

It must not be expected that the first arbitrary 
division of pupils into classes is sure to prove entire- 
ly satisfactory. It will be necessary to keep close 
watch upon the classes to see that each pupil is where 
he may do his best. An unusually dull pupil must 
sometimes be taken from one class and placed with 
another a little younger. Such adjustments require 
most painstaking interest and tact. It is always 
easier to move the bright pupil up a grade than to 
move the delayed pupil down one. The difficulties 
will be greatly lessened if one keeps the pupil’s hap- 
piness always in mind. When a boy or girl is found 
to be listless and inattentive, it is possible to suggest 
that another class needs his assistance, that he will 


38 The Organization and Administration © 





be happier there than where he is now, that his 
leadership in the younger group will count for much, 
that the teacher needs his codperation. The appeal 
for a change should always be made to the pupil’s 
own standards of value, never to his fears of those in 
authority. Such changes are frequently simplified 
if the home is put into sympathy with what is being 
done for its son or daughter. Let the parents know 
in advance that a change is to be made and make 
clear to them that the change is for the good of their 
boy or girl, not for the good of the teacher or of the 
school. | 

The reasons for adjustment are threefold: first, 
because of mental differences; secondly, because of 
social cohesion; and, thirdly, because of increase in 
size of the class. Exactly how far social distinctions 
should influence the make-up of a class is doubtful. 
In this democracy of ours the church school least of 
all should lend itself to any sort of caste system. 
Yet the fact remains that pupils of like neighbor- 
hoods form a more compact group than one made up 
of children from too divergent social elements. 
More Sunday schools than one have awakened to 
the fact that they found themselves unable to as- 
similate the new elements that had been brought 
in through a competitive membership campaign. 
To break down false social distinctions on the one 
hand and, on the other, to keep the spirit of the 
class alive is the difficult task to be faced. Where 
one member of the class is discovered to be obviously 


_ Of the Intermediate Depariment 39 


unhappy because of social dissimilarity, there must 
be immediate adjustment, else soon that pupil’s 
chances for further religious education in that school 
are nil. If the other pupils cannot be brought to 
see the hidden worth of this individual so as to in- 
corporate him in the class life, he must be placed ina 
class where he will be happy. Not for their sakes 
but for his own must the change be made. 

“Splitting up”’ classes is a difficult undertaking 
and must be handled with care, lest the splitting up 
result in splitting to pieces. The better organized 
the class, and the more of class spirit it contains, 
the less easy becomes the problem of finding a means 
of making a new swarm. There is no mechanical 
solution to this problem. It is possible to use 
authority and to “make”’ a new class, but this should 
be the last resort of the counselor. It is better far 
to get an assistant teacher who shall win the con- 
fidence and good will of the class to’the extent that 
he and a part of them shall be willing to make a 
separate group. It is again the personality of the 
teacher which counts. 

One consolation is ever the reward of the leader 
in the graded church school: as the system of graded 
organization becomes a tradition, the pupils tend 
to fit into the plan with less and less difficulty. It 
soon becomes understood how each must find his 
place, and how the entire purpose of the scheme is 
the largest good to each person. Hence, the ease 


AQ. The Organization and Administration 


with which the better graded school maintains its 
standards can be realized by all. 

The fourth step: obtaining teachers—The next step 
is to get the teachers for the respective classes and to 
inform each as to the pupils who are to compose his 
group and the lessons to be taught. If it is possible 
to foresee the probable number of teachers to be 
employed, these should be selected well in advance, 
gathered together from time to time for consulta- 
tion about the proposed changes, instructed in the 
ways of the graded school, given the literature they 
are to use in class instruction, and in every way 
possible prepared adequately for their new duties. 
At this point many schools fail. The classes, new 
to the innovation, must depend on teachers for 
inspiration and: guidance that the teachers are iil 
prepared to give, as they themselves have had no 
preparation for the new tasks. 


Having prepared teachers and pupils for the 
change to the graded system, it is well to have the 
new groupings announced on a certain Sunday, 
the naming of each teacher and his pupils, and as- . 
signing the place in which the class is to meet the 
following Sunday. Then the next Sunday, with as 
little confusion as possible, let the work start for- 
ward. If all these steps have been taken with care, 
especially if the teachers have had adequate prepara- 
tion, the newly graded work will begin with little 
friction and delay and with small likelihood of dis- 
aster. 


Of the Intermediate Department 41 


THE SMALL SCHOOL 


Grading in the small school encounters the ob- 
stacle that confronts the teacher of the rural school. 
The total number of pupils of strictly intermediate 
years in some country schools is occasionally only 
from three to six. In such instances to grade year 
by year would be to have one teacher and one pupil 
in each class. Accommodation must be made at this 
point in behalf of class spirit and social efficiency. 
At times the entire intermediate group is so small as 
to require only a single class made up of both sexes. 
It may even be that intermediates and_ seniors, 
because of poverty of numbers, must be, at least 
temporarily, thrown together. If, however, the 
best end is to be served, the intermediates should 
be placed by themselves at the earliest moment. 
Further, as soon as numbers permit, the intermediate 
boys and the girls should be separated into two 
groups. It may seem that such subdivision will 
work hardship on the class, but tact and persistence 
may make such a homogeneous class so attractive 
as to bring others into it. Thus, before long, a real 
class of from five to ten may be built. 

The more exactly the principles of grading are 
applied, the better the opportunity, first, of satis- 
factory lesson material, and, secondly, of social and 
service activities. The present tendency in the 
small Sunday school to throw all over twelve and 
under twenty-five into one class should be dis- 
couraged because it defeats the very end sought—a 


4) The Organization and Administration 





class spirit built upon numbers. There can be no 
true class spirit among such widely divergent ele- 
ments. Interests are too conflicting, mental attain- 
ments are too diverse, and religious needs are too 
wide apart for the class to become a growing, ex- 
periencing Christian body. 


GRADED LESSON MATERIAL 


This textbook does not deal with the problems of 
lesson material and methods of teaching. Another 
book has been prepared to aid the worker in these 
matters. It may be well at this point, however, 
to note that grading the pupils is for the sake of 
helping in the teaching process, and that the graded 
lessons are likewise helpful in teaching because they 
are arranged in view of the developing lives of the 
pupils. The International and other graded lesson 
series for these ages are purposely designed to meet 
the growing interest of these classes. 

The International Graded Series has for twelve- 
year-old pupils a lesson course called Gospel Stories. 
Schools in which the Junior Department has four. 
age groups will find these lessons fit the last junior 
year. Where the more recent plan is in vogue, 
Course VII: Gospel Stories is intended for the first- 
year intermediates. These lessons are a departure 
from the earlier method of treatment in story form 
and first introduce the pupil to a connected narrative 
of the life of Jesus—the Gospel of Mark. 

The story of the good news brought by Jesus to 


Of the Intermediate Department 43 








this world is followed by the carrying of that story 
through the activities of his followers in more recent 
times, thereby making contact, in the study of the 
influence of Jesus, with the life of to-day. These 
lessons in turn are followed by five lessons telling 
how the good news in the printed page was brought 
to us to-day—the story of how we got our Bible. 
Here the summer quarter begins, and the pupils are 
taken back to biblical material and learn of the good 
news as it was spread in apostolic days. 

The second year of the intermediate course in- 
troduces the pupils to Old Testament characters, 
that they may learn something of the motives that 
lay behind the wonderful heroes of the days of the 
Hebrew people. The purpose is to get the pupils tolike 
truly noble characters and thus to become like them. 

The same method is pursued the third year, only 
now the pupils are transferred in their studies to the 
characters of the New Testament and of Christian 
men since New Testament days. No adequate 
statement of the desirability of these courses is here 
possible, and only an actual and careful examination 
of the textbooks for pupils and for teachers for each 
of these years can reveal the wealth of material here 
placed at the command of the studious teacher. 


2How to Use, numbers 4 and 5, will be sent by the denomi- 
national publishers. Other similar advertising may be ob- 
‘tained from Scribner’s and from the University of Chicago 
Press by those desiring to know more about courses suited to 
‘these pupils. 


44 The Organization and A dministration 


Beginning with the year 1927, Group Lessons for 
the intermediates will be obtainable from the de- 
nominational presses. These lessons run in cycles 
and are alike for all pupils of a given department. 
The small school, in which necessity compels some 
accommodation of the year-to-year gradation plan, 
will find these lessons fitted to meet their needs. It 
should be kept in mind, however, that the closely, or 
year-by-year, graded material more nearly approx- 
imates the ideal and should be used where possible. 


GRADED SERVICE AND RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES 


Class gradation further simplifies the matter of 
adequate and satisfactory service and recreational 
activities. Recreation and service as applied to 
the entire department are discussed in other chapters 
of this text. Here let it be noted that the more 
closely alike are the interests and skill of the in- 
dividuals in a class the easier becomes the task of 
the teacher in aiding the pupils to find desirable 
forms of service and of helpfulness. Boys or girls. 
of about the same mental advancement like to do the 
same kind of things, whether these things are play 
or work. 

PROMOTION 


In any school that attempts proper grading there 
must be some means of marking the transition from 
grade to grade, some basis for determining the com- 
pletion of one section of the work before taking up 
the next. Thus it is that Promotion Day visualizes 


Of the Intermediate Department 45 





the fact that some, having completed the tasks of 
one year, are ready to take up those belonging to the 
next and are to be promoted for that purpose. Now, 
if the end of the church-school education were the 
acquirement of so many intellectual facts, the basis 
of promotion would be self-evident. Instead, the 
end sought is not the acquiring of facts but the 
making of character—a matter that is far less easy 
to measure in its successive stages. Some of the 
stages of character development are dependent on 
experiences that only time can supply. It is doubt- 
ful if any examination can ever reveal how far along 
one has gone in character growth. It is further 
doubtful if holding. one back in his promotion to 
repeat the experiences of the grade just finished is 
the way for him to gain what he has not yet ac- 
quired. On the intellectual side alone the effect of 
repeating a grade is frequently to dull the pupil’s 
interest rather than to help his progress. 

For these reasons it seems wise to base promotion 
upon the completion of the calendar year but to give 
recognition to work well done. Certain standards 
may be used as tests by which to encourage better 
work and better endeavors after Christlike living 
and as means by which one may measure his own 
progress.’ 


3Mrs. Johnson, in her school at Fairhope, Alabama, pro- 
motes her pupils year by year. Her report upon the results 
of such unexamined promotions is very interesting See 
Schools of To-morrow, Dewey and Dewey. 


46 The Organization and Administration 


If standards can be set, so many points for this 
and so many points for that, in the light of which 
each pupil may see how well he has done, they will 
prove the best means of getting things accomplished, 
especially if these standards are adopted by the 
department as their own standards. 

The following standard is suggestive rather than 
recommended for adoption in its present form: 


Attendances iilda SC as Wie eee OREO 
Twenty minutes’ home etuacles t-sivnopdboae 20° 
Pastiatpationsin’ Classiact:4 12.) ee ee 20 
One do-a-good-turn deed............. 20 
Keeping up, the notebook... 72.7 2e@ 

"Potall. PYF Rh Be ee 100 


Tardiness, off 5 points 
An average of 50 to 75 puts one in Class C 
An average of 76 to 89 puts one in Class B 
An average of 90 to 100 puts one in Class A 


Recognition should be given each quarter, and 
honor rolls or special marks of honor by the depart- 
ment should be made. 

The name “Honor Records,’’ which seems satis- 
factory to juniors, may be changed to -‘‘ Efficiency 
Records”’ for use among the intermediates. Some 
of those who are older and would resent the idea of 
‘“Honor Rolls” as associated with the earlier years 
of church-school life would not be averse to the 
standard of efficiency. It may be that for the pur- 
pose of aiding right bodily habits, so much needing 
to be acquired during the entire adolescent years, 


Of the Intermediate Department 47 


these efficiency records should give credit for such 
homely but necessary bodily attention as teeth 
cleaning, bathing, sleeping with windows open, and 
the like. It is certain that we need in our program of 
moral and religious education to stress life and habits, 
participation in social experience, and mastery of 
selfish impulses much more than mere intellectual 
attainments. 

A further credit might be given for some deed of 
loyalty to the department, to the church school, 
or to the church itself. These might all be classed 
under the head ‘‘Do a good turn;”’ but special at- 
tention may be called to the need of loyalty to the 
group, making for community righteousness by thus 
crediting effort in its behalf. Should church attend- 
ance be credited? Yes, if the church is honestly 
attempting to give in its morning service some spirit- 
ual food to this group. As loyalty to the institution 
it should figure; as a further obligation to two services 
laid upon the young over and above the obligation 
of adults for only one service it is certainly open to 
question. When properly functioning the Inter- 
mediate Department provides worship, study, dis- 
cussion, and activities better adapted to the needs 
of these young people than does a church service 
arranged primarily for adults. The church-school 
session is their ‘‘church service” oftentimes more 
truly than the later period of worship and sermon. 

When the pastor and the adults of the congregation 
feel their obligation to make the eleven-o’clock service 


48 The Organization and Administration 


minister to the adolescents, the intermediates should 
be shown their responsibility to accept such aid. 
In the meantime church attendance is largely a 
personal and. family matter and may be left as such. 


PROMOTING THE TEACHING FORCE 


Skill comes by practice. This is the root of the 
custom of keeping teachers in the public schools 
in the same grade year after year. The same argu- 
ment applies to the teaching force of the Inter- 
mediate Department of a church school. Instead 
of the same lessons palling upon the teacher of, say, 
the first-year group, each year should see enrich- 
ment in the course. The custom of the same teacher 
going on year after year with his class has the ad- 
vantage of giving him deeper insight into the growing 
lives of his pupils. But this is more than offset by 
the additional skill he will acquire if he takes up his 
task, year after year, with a new group. If he were 
teaching lessons, repetitions would become monot- 
onous; but he is teaching boys or girls, not lessons, 
and they are ever-changing human material. 

Moreover, to keep a teacher with pupils of the 
same age gives him constantly deeper insight into 
that age group, until the counselor will look forward 
with greatest interest and delight to having the 
pupils of his department under the expert guidance 
of a particular adult. The teacher’s promotion is 
not like the pupil’s—from class to class—but in the 
larger and ever larger approval of the heavenly 


Of the Intermediate Department 49 


~ 


Father and of his colaborers as they witness his 
increasing power to lead group after group, year 
after year, into a larger and fuller Christian ex- 
perience. Need it be added that each personality 
with which the pupils of a department come in con- 
tact has something of its own to contribute to the 
growing lives of these immature beings? Is it not, 
therefore, unfortunate that any class should pass 
through the intermediate years in contact with only 
one personality, deprived of the contributions pos- 
sible from other equally worthy but different Chris- 
tian adults? 
QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 

1. Why should pupils be graded? 

2. What reasons can be given for separate classes 
for boys and girls at this age? 

3. What information should be in hand to guide 
in grading? 

4. Why is a happy and contented pupil to be 
chosen in preference to the opposite? 

5. How large should intermediate classes be? 

6. What readjustments might become necessary 
in class membership? 

7. How may promotion best be’ handled? 

8. What plans for placing and training his teachers 
should the counselor form to be of largest service to 
them? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


Carefully observe the intermediate classes in 
your Sunday school, answering the following ques- 


tions: 
1. Is any pupil indifferent? If so, is indifference 


50 Organization and Administration 





due (1) to his wrong placement or (2) to the teacher’s 
inability? Give reasons for the conclusions reached. 

2. What items would you put into an efficiency 
record? Is a pupil of intermediate age able to esti- 
mate his own efficiency? Should such a card be sent 
to the parents? 

3. In your church school do boys or girls pay more 
attention to social distinctions in the class? Suppose 
a boy or girl poorer than the average comes into the 
group; how is this person treated by the others? 
Base your replies on actual observation. : 

4, Here is a boy somewhat younger than the aver- 
age of his class, somewhat behind in his school work, 
yet one of them in their social and recreational life. 
In size he is above the average of the group. How 
would you treat the matter.of grading in his case? 

5. Aclass is built up by and around the personality 
of a teacher. He has won their attendance and now 
has a class of forty boys, in years from twelve to 
fifteen. If you were to grade a church school having 
this class, what steps would you take in their behalf? 

6. A girl in an intermediate class refuses to be 
graded. If she has to go into the class where she 
belongs according to her years and her schooling 
she will leave the Sunday school. What would you 
do in her case? Would you let her go? What effect 
would this insubordination have upon the rest of 
the school? If you have actually had one of these 
too common cases, what did you do, and why? 


CHAPTER III 
THE ORGANIZED CLASS 


THE same reasons that were advanced for the 
organized department hold good for organizing the 
class. These young people, just emerging from 
childhood into youth, have before them the necessity 
of becoming self-reliant, self-directive persons. Com- 
pelled to codperate with other like personalities, 
they must be given every proper opportunity to 
learn how to live together codperatively. I€ is not 
enough that they grow up individually and negatively 
good. 

They must become personally but socially and ag- 
gressively righteous. They must learn how to line 
up with others in the active accomplishment of a 
worthy cause. They must discover how evil may 
become not only unpopular but impossible. They 
need to know not only how to work together in their 
employed time but how to utilize wisely their leisure 
time. In these days and in the midst of a democ- 
racy one cannot stress too strongly the need for 
living that is, first, self-directed, and, secondly, 
codperatively employed. 


THE CLASS IN THE INTERMEDIATE GROUP 


The class is the smallest social unit in the church 
school. A group of classes within certain rather 
(51) 


52 The Organization and Administration 


clearly defined limits of age and interest make up 
the department. No definite limit can be set at 
which the class, as such, should be the organic unit 
or at which the department should begin. Obvious- 
ly in church schools in which a single class makes up 
all the group of intermediates the class and the de- 
partment are one, and only folly would counsel a 
dual organization. The organized class is the only 
organization needed. Even two classes—one of boys 
and the other of girls—may get on very well as 
separate classes, tied together by the influence, the 
wisdom, and the skill of the counselor; but for two 
or more classes the need of a department organiza- 
tion in addition to the class organization is soon © 
felt, and provision for such inclusive organization 
should be made. 

Two factors make for division into classes: one, 
the inexperience of our church-school teachers; the 
other, the larger opportunity afforded in the small 
group for the influence of the teacher’s personality. 
The class is instituted primarily for better pedagogi- 
cal efficiency. The class solidarity, both in interest - 
and in permanency, makes for the end desired. The 
homogeneity of the class is greater than the alike- 
ness of the department, and personal attachment and 
direct influence are increased as we move out of the 
larger number of the department into the smaller 
number of the class. 

Furthermore, the opportunities for free self-ex- 
pression are greatly enhanced in the compact life © 


Of the Intermediate Department 53 
of the class. Social and recreational activities, as 
well as service priviliges, may be made available to 
every member of the smaller group, and the chances 
for free discussion and codperative thinking are 
possible only when the larger department breaks up 
into classes. 

Since the class is the social unit of the department, 
a relation exists between the organized class and the 
organized department. The department is com- 
mitted to a common program of action for the exe- 
- cution of which it is essential that each class perform 
its part. If, therefore, the class is unorganized, 
without machinery or habits of action, dependent 
on the spur of the teachers or the enthusiasm of the 
moment to get things done, the accomplishment of 
department ends will be greatly hindered if not 
altogether frustrated. On the other hand, where 
classes have their own organization, built up to 
accomplish the purposes determined by their co- 
operative thinking, in which the habits of working 
together are established and the sense of respon- 
sibility well formed, to carry out departmental plans 
becomes much more certain of accomplishment. 

The form of class organization.—The form of class 
organization should be as simple as is consistent with 
accomplishing good work. The class is organized 
to do something. The things it is to do are (1) to 
study and discuss the lesson; (2) to plan for Christ- 
like activities in philanthropic, civic, missionary, 
and other forms of service; (3) to provide for the 


54° The Organization and Administration 


members of the class means of wholesome recreation- 
alexperience. (4) Todo these things the organization 
must be kept intact, its members enlisted and kept 
interested, and new life brought to it through the 
addition of. new blood. Like the department or- 
ganization, to which attention has already been 
called, the class organization has for its purpose not 
to bestow honors in the form of offices but to get 
something accomplished. | 

It must, however, have its officers. These are a 
president, a vice president, and a secretary-treasurer 
(there may be one or two officers for this task). 

The president should be chosen by the class; 
should possess, actually or potentially, the ability 
to lead; should have real Christian character in the 
making; and should have the power to originate and 
to execute the plans of the class. The office should 
be a schooling in leadership, and to that end its 
tenure need not be too long. His is the task of pre- 
siding at all meetings of the class, of seeing that the 
business and devotional activities of which he has 
charge on Sunday morning do not intrench upon . 
the teaching hour, and of stimulating loyalty and 
active participation in the life of the group. Asa 
member of the department council he represents 
the class, brings to the council matters from the 
class needing the codperation of the department, and 
carries back to his group the wishes and plans of 
the larger whole. 

The vice presidency puts one in training for the 


Of the Intermediate Department 35 


higher office. This officer fills his superior’s place 
in the absence of the president and should, for train- 
ing purposes, be given at times the task of presiding 
in his presence. 

The secretary keeps the ceesaie of all meetings of 
the class. He also furnishes to the general secretary 
of the school the reports asked for in good shape and 
on time and keeps for the benefit of the class copies 
of these statistics. The secretary’s books should 
give the life history of the class, year by year, with 
all its enterprises. He should also correspond with 
absent members and keep them in touch with the 
life of the group. 

The treasurer, in like manner, keeps an accurate 
account of all moneys collected and spent, so that 
,giving may become truly educational. At the 
business meetings of the group these records should 
furnish complete knowledge of all the class is under- 
taking. If birthday offerings are a part of the class 
program, the treasurer should keep a record of the 
time of each member’s birthday and should send 
greetings and reminders to each member during the 
birthday week. Let it be stressed that all money 
spent by the class, whether through the general 
treasury of the church school or by the class itself, 
should find record in the treasurer’s book. Other- 
wise, the class underestimates its giving. 

This simple organization may be expanded as 
much as conditions may warrant. In all classes 
some committees are necessary. The essential com- 


56 The Organization and Administration 





mittees are membership and service; a recreation 
committee may be added. 

The membership committee, composed of three 
members or more, is charged with looking up absen- 
tees and with seeking new members as these move 
into the neighborhood. An interested class is likely 
to be a growing class, so that a part of the work of 
this committee is to see to it that each member is — 
employed in some happy enterprise, not to wait 
until absence makes action imperative. 

The. service committee performs for the class the. 
same duties that the like committee performs for 
the department. Philanthropic endeavors, such as 
helping a dependent child, sending to a children’s 
ward of a hospital or to an orphanage fruit, eggs, 
post cards, and linens, and aiding in the departmental 
service program are promoted and executed under 
the direction of this committee. Missionary interest 
is to be stimulated by them, and material aid, either 
in money or in things, furnished through them. 
Civic interests are also cared for by this group. 

The recreation committee also functions as does the 
like-named committee in the department. It seeks 
to furnish the class with recreation, providing a 
program that will be regular, fitted to the season, 
attractive to the entire class, and varied enough in 
its scope to meet the diversified interests of all., 

In all class committee work two different views 
are entertained by adult workers. One prefers to 
make standing committees who shall continue in 


Of the Intermediate Department 57 


tee 


office for three or six months. The problem of the 
teacher and the president is in this case to keep the 
committee alive and acting. Another view is that, 
because the standing committee is hard to get to 
work at any age, and especially so at this age, it is 
better to have these committees appointed from time 
to time as need arises and to give them a specific 
task, after the performance of which the committee 
automatically disbands. Whichever method is 
adopted, the all-important thing is to get the com- 
mittee to do its work. This will take much advising, 
much encouragement, and constant oversight. If 
real self-direction and codperation are to become 
operative, the class will not only profit by the com- 
petence of the committee’s work but it must at times 
suffer from its neglect. The teacher of this group 
will constantly have to bear in mind the immaturity 
of the class and exercise his best abilities to hold the 
officers and the committees to their task. It should 
further be said that the three committees indicated 
are sufficient to place every member of the class in 
a position of responsibility, thus affording to all 
some training in leadership and in initiative. 
Meetings of the class—-From the foregoing dis- 
cussion it is obvious that the class will meet not only 
on Sunday morning for instruction and discussion, 
but at such other times as are necessary to promote 
its enterprises. A business meeting, which may be 
combined with a social gathering, needs to be held 
at least once each month. Recreational gatherings— 


58 The Organization and Admintstration .- 


for hikes, for indoor and outdoor games, for work in 
dramatization, and for story-telling—should be 
held if possible as often as once each week. In fact, 
the larger opportunity for real recreational life among 
intermediates is found in the frequent gatherings of 
the individual classes rather than in the department 
group. 
THE TEACHING FORCE 

Up to this point attention has been directed to 
the class as a social unit and to its pupil officers and 
committees as persons through whom its thought 
and will are executed. But a class is incomplete 
without a teacher. He it is whose larger experience 
enables the class to reach out beyond its present 
limited knowledge and attainments, whose counsel 
and advice serves to augment and organize the con- 
certed opinions of the pupils, and whose skill pre- 
vents much useless waste of energy. Let us turn, 
then, to the selection, the training, and the function ~ 
of the teaching force in the Intermediate Depart- 
ment. We should keep in mind how they are related 
to the pupils of the class both as individuals and as 
a group. 

Selecting the teachers——The counselor usually se- 
lects his teachers. In general he will do well to choose 
those of the same sex as the class to be taught. A 
-man best understnads boys, and a woman girls. 
At this age in particular the-e are activities prac- 
tically demanding that one of their own sex should » 
be the leader of the group. Few women care to take 


Of the Intermediate Department 59 


——_—__ 


a party of boys out to spend the night on a hillside, 
and fewer men ought to think of taking a group of 
girls on such an errand. Athletic interests draw 
men to the boys even more than women to the girls. 
Besides, women can perform certain social tasks for 
their girls which a man cannot perform. 

While this is the general rule, it should be admitted 
that there are rare exceptions. A good woman. who 
will throw her life into the task can do vastly more 
for a group of boys than an irresponsible or selfish 
or lazy man. If the superintendent must choose 
between a capable and responsible woman and a 
careless or indifferent man, he had better choose the 
former by all means. It is rarely that the oppasite 
situation will arise. 

No rule can determine what should be the teacher’s 
age, although experience points to grave danger in 
selecting one whose age prevents active participation 
in the lives of the class. Youth is full of inexperience, 
but it is also keenly alive to the interests and ideals 
of the young, and responsibility for the welfare of 
others often develops unexpected balance and cau- 
tion. After all, it is not so much calendar age that 
counts as intellectual alertness and physical vigor. 
These boys and girls want adult companions—those 
who can think and act with them yet who possess the 
larger and richer experience of adult life. 

Moreover, it need hardly be said that in this age 
of general education when every boy and girl by his 
own right is immersed in the keen intellectual life 


60 The Organization and Administration 


ae 





of school and of books, of motion pictures, and of 
newspapers, that the teacher must have at his com- 
mand the information that the pupils possess; that 
is, he must be of their general educational level. 
An adult who has lived apart from the world of to- 
day, whose mental life is too sluggish to respond to 
the quickening influence of modern thought, or who 
from mental indolence is unwilling to learn what 
and how the youth of to-day think is not the one to 
be chosen for this difficult task. True, we must 
select from what we have; but sometimes this se- 
lection seems to be made more on the basis of age 
and influence or of willingness to assume the position 
that upon any intelligent appreciation of what is 
involved in having an ignorant though morally good. 
and ‘“‘spiritually’’ aspiring person in charge of the 
thought life of boys and girls. How shall such a one 
answer the inquiries of youth about this physical 
world, about the moral problems, or the intellectual 
difficulties that faith confronts? If ever human life 
needs the help of sympathetic, clear-thinking minds, 
imbued with the spirit that was in the Master, this . 
is the age. 

So far as possible, the adult to be chosen as teacher 
should have reached a fair degree of achievement in 
the opinion of his fellows. A ne’er-do-well hardly 
typifies in his own person the sort of character we 
are expecting in the young. One need not to have 
““succeeded,’’ as the world counts success, to make a 
most satisfactory church-school teacher, but he must 


Of the Intermediate Department 61 


evince qualities that result in intelligent and ade- 
quate adjustment with his world and his fellow men 
if he is to command the respect and following of boys. 
The same may be said about the women teachers. 
Initiative is a prerequisite of good teaching, and these 
social achievements are indicative of such initiative. 

Two other qualities to be desired in the teacher 
are faithfulness and a sense of humor. The former 
is desirable in the teachers of all grades, but the 
latter is most essential in the teachers of boys and 
girls of this age. To take life too seriously, to be so 
devoid of the sense of fun that one may turn a joke 
into a most serious and painful situation, is to spell 
defeat before defeat. comes, 

Last, and greatest of all, must be character—fine, 
wholesome, gracious, manly, or womanly Christian 
character. Nothing else will take the place of this. 
These teachers are to be the epistles of Christ, read 
and known by every member of the class. What 
they are will count far more than what they say. 
What they teach will be, as one has well said, just 
themselves. For, after all, there is contagion in 
character; and goodness.is as catching, more catch- 
ing one gladly thinks, than badness. 

If such a teacher seems only to exist in the eal 
let one consider what these growing lives deserve. 
Shall they be led by one who is unwilling to go on 
toward perfection? Even if such ideal persons do 
not exist ready to be chosen, is it not well to have 
before us a picture of the sort of person we desire, so 


62 The Organization and Administration 


that we may select from the men and women in our 
church the one combining in the highest degree the 
most of these qualities? 

Training the teacher—Selecting the best is only a 
part of the task of the counselor. His is the duty of 
training and counseling with these volunteer workers, 
who, more than anyone else, recognize their own 
limitations and imperfections and are, therefore, will- 
ing to be taught. And, however efficient these 
teachers may be already, there is always still room 
for further growth. | 

The pupils themselves compose a constant school 
of training if one will only give himself the chance 
to learn. Contact, frequent contact—in the church- 
school period and at play, in fun-loving sport and in 
acts of service, in their homes and out of doors in 
the great open, in summer and in winter—contact 
frequent and familiar, let it be repeated, is the best 
training for teaching youth that exists. Dull must 
that person be who can associate whole-heartedly 
with these boys and girls and not be taught the things - 
he most needs to know as their leader and teacher. 
Adulthood leads far from the thoughts and impulses 
of youth. Personal contact in work and in play 
soonest restores that insight into the mind and heart 
of the boy or the girl which alone can guide in suc- 
cessful teaching. ; 

But, besides this personal and educative contact 
one needs to fortify himself through reading the best 
books on teaching, on the psychology of adolescence, 


Of the Intermediate Department 63 


and on all phases of the modern movement in re- 
ligious education. A selected list for such a worker 
is appended to this chapter. Reading may well be 
carried to other fields—those fields in which boys 
and girls are interested, such as juvenile stories, 
books of biography, and of heroic living, books that 
tell ‘“‘how to do” or “how to know”’ this or that. 
Anything and everything that is of interest to these 
pupils is a means for enriching one’s ability to think 
and to act with them. 

But the teacher’s training is dependent on a certain 
adventurousness, a willingness to experiment and to 
test the results of one’s experience, a willingness to 
try and fail, if need be, in order to know the better at 
the next attempt. ‘‘We learn by doing” is good 
pedagogy for the teacher as well as for the pupil. 
Planning ahead, working out plans, criticizing one’s 
own successes or failures, trying the new and the 
untried—these are the ways in which a teacher’s 
training comes. 

But in addition to all personal preparation of the 
teacher should be the constant oversight by the 
counselor of all his associates. Not a meddlesome 
inquisitiveness but a sympathetic helpfulness should 
characterize these efforts in their behalf. The all- 
too-common procedure is to put a teacher in charge 
of a class and then to let him wrestle alone with the 
problems he meets. No superintendent of a city 
public school and no principal of a ward school ever 
feels his duty discharged at this point. Many a 


64 The Organization and Administration: 





mistake made by the inexperienced may be corrected 
and many a weakness overcome if only the wisdom 
of the counselor is ready in time. The waste of good 
teaching material in these departments because of 
lack of competent oversight and helpfulness is ap- 
palling. An intermediate council that shall act as a 
clearing house for ideas, as a means of inspiration, 
and as a source of aid and counsel for those beginning 
to teach is indispensable. | 

The incompetent teacher usually erelong elimi- 
nates himself. Sometimes more drastic measures 
must be pursued and recourse had to the general 
superintendent to dislodge the failure enamored of 
his job. Where incompetence comes from ignorance, 
training may save both the teacher and the class. 
If in the long run the class is suffering under the 
tutelage of one who either will not learn or who, 
because of lack of earlier training, cannot learn, 
then change is imperative. Let all kindness be 
shown. If possible promote such a worthy but in- 
competent soul to a task for which he is better 
fitted, but by no means let growing lives suffer at the 
hands of those who are totally incompetent and who 
are unwilling or unable to qualify to teach. 

And herein lies the manifest advantage of keeping 
teachers in a certain department and even in a certain 
grade of the department. If the end of grading for 
the pupil is his happiness and his progress, then for 
the teacher the end should be increased efficiency. 
Years of training in handling a certain age and in 


Of the Intermediate Department 65 


teaching repeatedly the same lesson material should 
develop skill quite impossible to the novice. The 
teacher learns to know the interests, habits, and 
peculiarities of such an age group and has likewise 
mastered the essential facts of his lesson material 
to a degree that gives him large assurance and greater 
opportunity to devote himself to the individual needs 
of these fast-developing personalities. That is im- 
possible if he is always just on the margin of his 
teaching knowledge. Teachers are not equally com- 
petent to handle every grade. In course of time there 
will be discovered and developed a group of teachers 
who are masters of their trade and who have found 
the group best fitted to their abilities. 


THE FUNCTION OF THE TEACHER 


Perhaps this chapter on the class and its work 
can best be brought to a close by considering what is 
the function of the teacher. Obviously he is to teach; 
but teaching is not just ‘“‘telling.’’ It is stimulating 
the thought and activities of a class, that the pupils 
may know and experience a widening and a fuller 
life. Instruction is a part of the teacher’s task; in- 
spiring is another; directing the energies is another; 
affording new opportunities, new situations which 
demand new and more Christlike actions is another; 
helping pupils discover their own resources is still 
another. All these constitute the teacher’s task. 

His function is that of a big brother, hers that 
of a big sister, to these growing boys and girls. The: 

5 


66 The Organization and Administration 


_—_— 


teacher is a counselor, ever sympathetic, ever willing 
to help, ever ready to stand back and let the youth- 
ful impulse test itself out, ever wise to prevent 
irreparable disaster. Toward the department and 
the larger school he acts as the intelligent interpreter 
of the pupils under his care; toward his pupils he 
exercises the office of chief adviser concerning the 
plans, programs, and ideals of the larger group. He 
is the nexus between the official life of the church 
and the personal, private lives of each growing 
personality in his class. Development toward the 
Christian ideal, identification with the Christian 
enterprise, and full participation in the organized 
church are his desire for every one of his boys or 
girls. 

Let us formulate and summarize these diverse 
duties and privileges of the teacher: 

1. As the adult member of the group he is the 
leader whose wisdom, skill, and sympathies command 
the respect and admiration as well as the loyalty 
of each and all. 

2. As representing the church he is the superior © 
officer of the class, in and through whom the will of 
the church expresses itself. Conversely he expresses 
to the church the desires and purposes of the class. 

3. As ex-officio member of committees he is the 
adult adviser in all class enterprises. 

4. As specialist in his age group he is most com- 
petent to teach, to help, to guide. 

5. As intimate associate of these boys or girls he 


Of the Intermediate Department 67 





is best able to give vocational guidance as they pre- 
pare for or embark upon their life careers. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. Why should the class in the Intermediate 
Department be organized? How does class organi- 
zation promote departmental life and efficiency? 

2. What are the officers, their qualifications and 
duties, in the organized class? 

3. What committees are desirable? Should these 
be standing committees or temporary committees? 
Give reasons for your answer. 

4. Name and discuss the qualifications of the 
teacher of intermediates. 

5. What are the functions and duties of the 
teacher? . 

6. In what ways may an alert person get training 
as an intermediate teacher? Which of the ways 
suggested seems to you to be most important? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER THOUGHT 


1. Ask a teacher of intermediates to list the exact 
number and purposes of all the meetings of the class 
for a period of six months. Analyze the results to 
see what parts of their religious training are being 
neglected. | 

2. If an obligation of the class, say a missionary 
enterprise, was suffering through the inefficiency or 
the negligence of the committee, what would you do? 
Suppose a social, athletic, or other recreational ac- 
tivity failed through committee negligence; what 
would you do? 

3. Select the most successful intermediate teacher 
whom you may observe. How far does each of the 
following characteristics enter into his success: 


68 The Organization and Administration 


initiative; pedagogical skill; ability to think with his 
group; ability to organize their recreation; intimate 
knowledge of his pupils in their homes, their school 
life, and on the playground; fine, wholesome Chris- 
tian character; business or professional success, or, 
if a woman, her social standing? If each is scored 
fifteen as perfect, the whole will total 105. Mark 
the score and see how he stands. 

4, If a teacher is willing to learn and quite capable 
to lead boys or girls yet lacks educational equipment, 
how would you recommend that he make up these 
deficiencies? Suppose, for example, he knows 
nothing about modern science; how could he learn? 

5. Is it essential for a teacher of boys’ classes of 
the age under consideration to know anything about 
baseball? professional baseball? the batting averages 
of the best players? Why? 

6. Give some good reasons for not wanting a man 
to teach a class of girls; a woman to teach a class of. 
boys. 

7. Estimate the value of the following recreations 
for a class, determining whether for girls or boys: 
hiking, skating, baseball, basketball, track meet, 
Japanese tea, story-telling, basketry, radio, tennis, 
bacon bat, wiener roast, tracking, signaling, canoe- 
ing. 


Books DEALING WITH INTERMEDIATES 


Alexandria, John W.: The Sunday School and the 


Teens. 
Athearn, Walter: The Church School. 
Gibson, H. W.: Boyology. 
Harris, Hugh H.: Leaders of Youth. 
Maus, Cynthia: Youth and the Church. 


Of the Intermediate Depariment 69 


Moxcey, Mary E.: Girlhood and Character, Leader- 
ship of Girls’ Activites. 

Slattery, Margaret: The Girl in Her Teens, The 
Girl and Her Religion. 

Leaders’ Manuals for Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and 
Camp Fire Girls. 


CHAPTER IV 
PROBLEMS OF EQUIPMENT 


Toots are never ends but means. They are the 
means by which better work may be accomplished 
or the same work done more easily. An ax, an auger, 
and a saw constituted the complete outfit of our 
pioneer forbears, and with these few simple tools 
they cleared the land, built homes, and furnished 
them. Their achievements, however, form no argu- 
ment against more and better tools-to-day. A 
modern house would be built with difficulty, if at 
all, with such poor implements. 


THE VALUE OF ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT 


The equipment of a modern church school con- | 
sists of the tools with which to do its work, and these 
tools should be sufficient to accomplish the best 
work with the least waste effort. Of course, the 
worker is the first essential. Tools will not use them- 
selves. It is idle to furnish good tools unless there is 
some one to use them, or there are those whocan be 
trained to their use. The best way to teach a boy 
the use of tools is to put them into his hands. Awk- 
ward at first, he will gain skill in their handling 
until he becomes a proficient workman. Is it not 
possible that, much as the church stands in need of 


(70) 


The Intermediate Department 71 


competent teachers, it has almost equal need of 
adequate equipment? For, how in the absence of 
tools, can one ask capable workers to assume re- 
sponsibility for the religious education of the young? 
Can one hope to accomplish anything of value in 
the cluttered room unadapted to teaching, or to 
build programs of worship that shall develop the 
spirit of reverence in a school devoid of the pos- 
sibilities of departmental worship? Further, how 
can the inexperienced be trained to skill which re- 
quires tools that they do not possess? If, in despera- 
tion at their poor success, they resign, who is to 
blame? It is undoubtedly true that a good teacher 
is the secret of good church-school work; but it is 
also true that we have let the faithful workers at- 
tempt the well-nigh impossible task of making 
bricks without straw. Mark Hopkins on one end 
of a log and a student on the other may once have 
constituted a college; but few college professors 
would accept a similar Arcadian position to-day. 
With all the best aids of the modern college they 
still feel their inability to meet the students’ needs; 
without these aids moderate success would be al- 
most hopeless. 

So important is equipment to the schools of to- 
day that this chapter will be devoted, first, to the 
consideration of what adequate equipment com- 
prises; and, secondly, a consideration of what may 
be done to remedy present conditions. 


i The Organization and Administration 


HousING SPACE 


1. The assembly room.—The first essential-is a place 
in which to work. This department, if it is to carry 
on a fourfold program of worship, instruction, recrea- 
tion, and service, must have a home for its activities. 
No longer can any church contentedly ignore the 
imperative demand for adequate housing of the 
departments. 

For worship and for general business ees social 
assemblies the prime necessity is a room large enough 
to make each pupil comfortable, with additional 
space for visitors and for further growth in member- 
ship. During the week it is possible to make use 
of any large room for social or business meetings; 
but on Sunday, for the worship service, unless a 
certain room is set off for the particular use of the 
Intermediate Department, it will have to join with 
some other group, and thus the distinctive needs 
of intermediate pupils will inevitably be neglected. 

The size of this room depends on che size of the 
department, the standing rule being fifteen square 
feet of floor space for each pupil. This is to insure 
an abundance of air. Two hundred cubic feet of 
air space is another way of reckoning, for it must be 
taken into consideration that the height of rooms— 
varies considerably in church buildings. To obtain 
sufficient light so as not to induce eye strain thefe 
should be three square. feet of window space for each 
pupil. These are minimum not maximum require-_ 
ments. 


Of the Intermediate Department 73 


In all cases the assembly room should be well 
lighted and attractive. That indefinable something 
called ‘‘atmosphere”’ is determined by the physical 
appointments of the room. Cheerfulness should 
characterize this atmosphere. While not partaking 
of the solemnity found in the more formal audi- 
torium of the church, the room should have nothing 
that detracts from the spirit of social worship. 
Hence it is that special attention needs to be given 
to the color scheme of the room. Disharmonies and 
bizarre color combinations are to be avoided. A 
person of keen esthetic sense should be sought to 
determine what the color combinations are to be. 
Tans, grays, buffs, or greens should prevail. This 
room is to be the very heart of all departmental life, 
and no pains or expense should be spared to make it 
best serve its purpose. 

2. Classrooms.—Classrooms, one for each rae 
are essential. These rooms may be adjacent to the 
assembly room or further removed from it. To be 
near at hand economizes time, but at this age the 
pupils can pass readily to any part of the building; 
consequently, nearness to their assembly is not so 
essential as in some of the younger departments. 
But whether near or farther away these classrooms 
should be real rooms. No compromise of curtained 
alcoves or stalls will do. In a structure already 
completed the latter may have to be utilized for a 
time, but their shortcomings very quickly become 
apparent. First of all, they afford only partial 


74 The Organization and Administration 


oe 





isolation. Noise from other classes comes through 
the curtain or screen. Next, without four walls 
a room has insufficient wall space to put up 
blackboards, maps, and other necessary aids. Last 
of all, they fail to furnish the “homey” atmosphere 
that gives security to the developing class spirit. 
The ideal classroom must conform to the recog- 
nized rules for size and window space just given for 
the assembly room. For ten pupils the room should 
not be less than 10x12 feet. A difficult problem 
arises at this point in view of the prevailing tendency 
to house both church and church school under one 
roof. To get enough classrooms each is built too 
small; and to get them under one roof window space 
and ventilation are sacrificed. In consequence there 
is growing appreciation of the church-school build- 
ing, adjacent to but separate from the church itself. 
But whatever the future may have for us, to-day 
the necessity for a four-walled, plastered, and there- 
by partially sound-proof room for each class is clearly 
demonstrated. 
_ The decoration of these rooms, like the coloring of 
the assembly room, is a matter of more than passing 
importance, Here also the effect desired is cheer- 
fulness and a general sense of the artistic which shall 
minister to the quickened esthetic consciousness of 
the pupils. 
3. Cloakroom and kitchenette-——In addition to the 
rooms already mentioned each department needs at 
least. one cloakroom—better, two. Especially in 


Of the Intermediate Department cay 


the colder climates these are necessary in behalf 
of good health, to provide for the outdoor garments 
during the hour or hour-and-a-half session; and in 
all climates provision for the hats of the boys reduces 
to the vanishing point the possibility of their being 
used as missiles. If good order and system have a 
place in character development, the school does well 
to make orderliness a convenient virtue. These 
rooms should of course be provided with ample 
hooks, pegs, hangers for hats and wraps, and racks 
to hold rubbers and wet unbrellas. They should be 
adjacent to the assembly room for convenience’ 
sake. 

As more or less of the school life of the depart- 
ment is to be carried on in the assembly room, 
it is convenient to have a kitchenette at hand. The 
main kitchen of the church may be used, but in the 
larger churches it may be removed from the de- 
partment, and it is likely to be occupied just when the 
department has planned one of its own social func- 
tions. 

4. Gymnasium.—If{ a church has a gymnasium, 
it may serve the purposes of indoor recreation for 
this department. It is doubtful if church gymna- 
siums are as universally necessary as is often con- 
sidered. The recreational life of intermediate boys 
and girls is best had in the open air. About the 
church may frequently be found adequate space for 
tennis, volley ball, and basket ball courts. In many 
parts of the United States these may be used nearly 


76 The Organization and Administration 
all the year. To follow the seasons with appropriate 
seasonal sports is better than to stick to certain 
types of fun. In congested cities, however, a gym- 
nasium should be provided which at times should be 
set apart for this department, and during these 
periods it should be considered a part of the depart- 
mental equipment. The gymnasium, if properly 
placed and cared for, may be used as the assembly 
room of the department. This, however, increases 
the difficulty of creating a worshipful atmosphere. 


THE FURNISHINGS 


The next essential after housing the departments 
is to provide furniture adequate to their needs. 

1. The assembly room should be furnished with 
chairs, simple in design but substantial in quality. 
.Bookracks fastened to the backs of the chairs 
furnish convenient places in which to keep hymnals. 
Pupils of the Intermediate Department are so rapid- 
ly approaching fully mature stature and the worship 
period is of such comparatively short duration that 
it is hardly necessary to use other than full-sized — 
chairs. But caution should be taken not to pur- 
chase chairs more than seventeen inches high or, 
having purchased, to lower them. 

The other furniture of the assembly room consists 
of a well-tuned piano, a table for the president and 
the counselor, a desk or table for the secretaries, a 
bookcase, and a victrola. So far as possible the 
furniture should match. The bookcase is to hold 


Of the Intermediate Department 77 


reference books and hymnals where bookracks are 
not provided. It may also keep such pictures and 
other illustrative matter as the workers need from 
time to time. Untidiness of this case is to be avoided 
by making some member of the department custo- 
dian of its treasures. The secretaries’ table or desk 
should be provided with drawers and index files to 
meet the needs of the work. Experience alone can 
tell what may be needed at this point. A victrola 
is a decided addition to the room. It is of use in 
worship to train pupils in appreciation of religious 
music of real worth. Further reference to this will 
be found when discussing worship programs. The 
instrument is of further use on social evenings when 
the department is gathered in its home for recreation. 

2. Intermediate classrooms must have chairs enough 
for all, a table about which the class shall sit, and a 
bookcase or bookshelf for reference books. The 
chairs should be of a height to give comfort to the 
pupils. Some prefer the desk-arm chair, which does 
away with the need for a large table. Some of the 
intermediates, especially the twelve-year olds, are 
yet undeveloped physically and need to have lower 
chairs and tables. The class session is longer than 
the brief worship period, and to work at tables while 
sitting upon chairs not adjusted to one during this 
period tends to discomfort and _ slovenliness of 
posture. | 

3. Accessories—Besides furniture, certain acces- 
sories are needed as aids to good work. These may 


78 The Organization and Administration 


~_ 


be enumerated briefly as blackboards, pictures, 
stereopticon or motion-picture machine, reference 
books, hymn books, and maps. Each classroom 
should be provided with a blackboard, preferably 
fastened securely to the wall. The cloth board is a 
pocr substitute for a real blackboard. Both assem- 
bly rooms and classrooms are greatly improved by 
adding suitable pictures. These should be well- 
executed reproductions of some of the great works 
of religious art. It is better to buy a few well-chosen 
pictures, large enough to be seen by all, than to dis- 
tribute the picture money among many inferior or 
small pieces of art. Hofmann’s “Christ Among the — 
Doctors”’ is among the best. ‘‘Sir Gallahad’’ makes 
a peculiar appeal at this time of life. Others are 
“The Man with the Hoe,’ Millet; ‘‘Moses,”’ 
Michelangelo; ‘‘The Angelus,’’ Millet; “Frieze of 
the Prophets,’’ Sargent.’ If the photos or crayon 
likeness of former worthy pastors must be displayed, 
let them be placed in some room devoted to adults, 
certainly not in these rooms. 

A stereopticon or picture machine is a valuable — 
addition to the outfit of the assembly room. These 
machines may now be purchased through the denom- 
inational publishers or direct from the manufacturers. 
They furnish valuable aid both to the program of 
worship and to the social gatherings of the group. 
A machine belonging to the entire school may be 
shared; or this department may purchase one as a 


1For a list see The Church School, Athearn, pages 242-43. 


Of the Intermediate Department 79 


part of its activities, sharing it with other depart- 
ments.. Slides may be rented from various agencies. 
The choice of religious films should be carefully made, 
as much cheap work is on the market. These, too, 
may be obtained on a rental basis. 

Certain reference books will be needed by all; 
other works of this sort may be chosen for certain 
classes. The general library of the department 
should contain not only reference books for lesson pre- 
paration but also a good assortment of books about 
boy and girl life for teacher training, Bible and mis- 
sionary geographies, encyclopedias, books on Scout- 
craft, camping, recreation, etc. Maps are needed 
for classes or for the department as a whole, their 
selection being determined by the courses of study 
followed. Maps of Bible lands and of missionary 
fields are the chief need. The simpler these are in 
detail, the better. Some of the best maps for the 
department should be the product of the pupil’s 
effort; opportunity should be furnished to make them 
in sand or plastecine, that the relief of a country 
may be appreciated. These are better than the 
ready-made ‘‘relief maps,’’ as making them impresses 
the geographical situation more clearly and more 
firmly upon the mind. 

The class library will be restrictea to those books 
actually needed for class work, such as a Bible dic- 
tionary, an English dictionary, Bibles, and the like. 
Each room will provide books according to its own 
needs. Unless the table is supplied sufficiently with 


80 The Organization and Administration 


drawers, filing cases, one box for each pupil, are con- 
venient devices for keeping crayons, pictures, and 
other paraphernalia These boxes should have a 
neat rack or be kept upon the shelf with the books. 


RECORDS 


Records for departments and for classes are con- 
sidered part of the equipment. The general secre- 
tary of the church school is likely to determine what 
general records he desires kept, just as the treasurer 
determines what sort of reports he wishes to accom- 
pany the offerings when they come to him. How- 
ever, the department and each class. will likely be 
allowed liberty as to the form of permanent records 
used. ; 

The secretary of the department will need: 

1. Enrollment cards (see page 35). 

2. Attendance record This may either be a bale: 
a loose-leaf file, or a card file. The items to enter are: 


Month vores tase ne ee 


Total | New 
En. Att. | Att. | Att. | Att. | Att. Att. |Mem. Lost En. 
Class 1 


ee | | | SS | | | OO Oe 
a + | ee | | | | Le 
a a | ee | | | ef ee 


i | | | | 


Etc. 
Total for month 


3. Secretary’s record book.—This book should 
contain an accurate record of all meetings of the 


department, together with all matters of business | 
transacted, programs of worship or of recreation fol- 


Of the Intermediate Department 81 





lowed, and service activities attempted. Without 
this the history of the department is soon lost. 
Profiting by past successes or failures without it 
becomes impossible. 

4. Birthday record—Cards giving name and date 
of birth, arranged in a file by months, enable the 
secretary to send out birthday congratulations and 
good wishes. If a corresponding secretary is elected, 
this may be part of his task. 

The treasurer of the department will need: 

1. An account book, on which he enters every 
receipt and credits each item of expense. This is 
the property of the department and should be open 
to the inspection of any member at any time. The 
receipts should include the offerings from classes, 
each class offering being kept separate; income from 
socials, lectures, concerts; gifts, etc. The outgo of 
money should include what is paid each Sunday to 
the general treasurer of the school, to expense of the 
department, to service activities, etc. 

The secretary and the treasurer of each class will 
need to keep records much like those just described. 
All record books of the classes and of the department 
should be examined at least twice each year to make 
certain what shape they are in. This will tend to 
check carelessness. Special committees may be 
appointed for this purpose. 

If standards of attainment or of efficiency, such 
as those described on page 46, are to be used, 
cards or a record book for this purpose will have to 

6 


82 The Organization and Administration 


be considered part of the class equipment. These 
records may be kept by the secretary of the class 
or by the teacher himself, as seems best. So far as 
possible it is well to create a feeling of responsibility 
for one’s own marks, so that each may be trusted to 
keep his own score. 

Thus far housing, furniture, accessories, and 
records have been considered, altogether making up 
the complete equipment of the Intermediate De- 
partment and its classes. It is well to reconsider 
these items in the light of the actual limited facilities 
at the disposal of many church schools. Certain 
adaptations can be made to meet present conditions. 


UTILIZING THE PRESENT BUILDING 


Until adequate housing is provided, it is well to 
look over the present church plant carefully to see 
if every available portion of space is being utilized. 
An overcrowded department may find a basement 
that can be renovated and made its assembly room, 
Although far from ideal, this room is much better 
than having to join in the ‘general exercises” of 
the entire school, for it does give opportunity for 
development in worship. In some churches the 
auditorium is abandoned during the church-school 
hour, and here may be found admirable quarters 
for departmental efforts. It is possible, in some com- 
munities, to have the Intermediate, Senior, and 
Young People’s Departments meet at a different 
hour from the one at which the children’s depart-. 


Of the Intermediate Department 83 





ments meet, thus increasing housing facilities. Even 
in the one-roomed structure curtains or screens made 
of beaver board may partition a part of the room 
for class and department activities, singing excepted. 
Curtains, while least desirable, may be employed 
as a last resort. 

Urgent need and repeated requests may succeed 
in getting an addition built to the church building 
sufficient to house the department. Failing this, 
“huts” of the type Uncle Sam built for the soldiers 
can be constructed upon the church grounds for a 
small sum, most of the materials being obtained by 
donation, and the work in large part being done by 
members of the department. To demonstrate to 
the church membership that the pupils of these 
departments need, ask for, and are able to utilize 
better accommodations and equipment is the first step 
to obtaining them. Not to utilize to the fullest the 
present inadequate building, not to show inventive- 
ness in making the most out of present conditions, 
is the surest way to prevent the coming of aid. It 
is not lack of money that prevents our boys and girls 
from having accommodations they so richly deserve; 
it is lack of vision and of initiative to demonstrate 
their determination to do their best to have what 
they need. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. Why is adequate equipment essential to suc- 
cessful departmental work? 


84 The Organization and Administration 


2. For what is the assembly room used? . How is 
its necessary size to be determined? 

3. What equipment should the assembly room 
contain? 

4. What size should the classrooms be? 

5. What equipment should they contain? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. Describe accurately the present accommodations 
of the Intermediate Department of your church. 
How far are these accommodations adequate? Is 
there room for growth? | 

2. Describe, likewise, its equipment. 

3. How can the church school set about to provide 
the needed tools? 

4. What equipment has your church for the 
recreational life of the young? For instance, has ita | 
gymnasium? a basket ball court? a tennis court? a 
volley ball net and ball? (These can be put up any- 
where and used by any number of persons.) Is 
there a social room for evening gatherings of classes 
or of the whole department? a kitchen or kitchenette? 

5. If yours is a country church, has the church 
used the church yard for any other purpose than a 
place in which to bury its dead? Is there room on the 
church lot for some of the things mentioned above? 
How would the older people of the church feel toward 
putting the lot at the disposal of the young? 

6. Ask your secretary to show you the records of 
the church school for the preceding five years. If 
he does not have them, try to find them. When 
found, see how much the church has gained or lost 
in those years. What changes have come in keeping 
the records? Have any other facts than these statis- 
tics been preserved? For instance, can you tell how 


Of the Intermediate Department 85 


many meetings of the teaching force were held during 
the years gone by and can you learn what was done 
at these meetings? Is there any record of the wor- 
ship services used during the years? 

7. Consider if the present inadequate equipment 
in your school is due to: (1) prejudice against any- 
thing new; (2) lack of money; (3) lack of thought; 
(4) procrastination; (5) indifference or plain laziness. 


CHAPTER V 


TRAINING IN WORSHIP 


THE Sunday program of the Intermediate De- 
partment is made up of two distinct parts. One 
part consists of worship and fellowship; the other 
of class instruction, discussion, and expression. 
The former period, coming either at the beginning 
or at the close of the school session, is from fifteen 
to thirty minutes in length. If the entire school 
period is only one hour, one third of it should be 
devoted to worship; if the session has an hour and a 
quarter or more, the worship period may be length- 
ened by five to ten minutes. The arguments in 
favor of placing the worship before the class period 
are: (1) It starts the department together, (2) it 
provides that late comers shall not miss the class 
period, and (3) it leaves the teacher opportunity 
to close the lesson without the necessity of inter- 
ruption at a critical moment. In favor of the reverse 
program are the following considerations: (1) Wor- 
ship is quite as essential as instruction and should 
not be slighted, (2) the minds of the pupils are 
fresher at the beginning and therefore can give 
better attention to the lesson, and (3), having settled 
down during the class period, the pupils are in a. 
more devotional frame of mind. Local conditions, 

(86) 


The Intermediate Department ~ 87 


such as distance of members from the church, other 
church services, and the like, will have to be taken 
into account. The position of the worship period 
before or after the lesson is not so vital as that during 
it the boys and girls shall actually worship. 

The gathering of the department in its own as- 
sembly room is essential to the best worship. How- 
ever, the absence of a separate assembly room does 
not totally preclude a separate service. After a ten- 
minute general worship service in the one-room 
church further worship by departments may be 
carried on if singing is omitted. For this reason a 
consideration of worship for intermediates, its need, 
its methods or program, and its standards of success 
is of value to every worker with pupils of these 
ages. 

THe APPEAL IN WORSHIP 


Good teaching makes its appeal to the intellect. 
Worship, on the other hand, makes its primary 
appeal to the emotions. Its purpose in all ages and 
under whatever form has been to put the worshiper 
on terms of greater fellowship with his God. Wher- 
ever worship has been carried on in common with 
another fellow worshiper it has further tended to 
bind the two together into a more intimate relation, 
because both have been stimulated by like emotions. 
They have literally “felt together,’ and this is the 
essence of sympathy. 

During the early adolescent years two things that 
demand careful attention to the worship life of 


88 The Organization and Administration 





the pupils are taking place. First of all, they are 
awakening to the deeper meaning of things about 
them. Nature ceases to be a bundle of trees, grass, 
sticks, stones, animals, and inanimate objects loose- 
ly tied together; nature has an inner meaning now 
which it never had before. The very processes of 
life, including birth and death, seem driven on by 
some hidden Power. Skies are discovered to possess 
beauties never before seen. And not nature alone but 
human nature has its revelations also. New mean- 
ings are being discovered in others as well as in our- 
selves. We have learned that actions have their 
sources in the deeper fountain of the heart; hence, 
it is not enough to know the deeds of others: we must 
know the motives, the feelings, the inner springs of 
action. The awakened emotional life of the ado- 
lescent vibrates to these new meanings. 

But not only is youth awakening to inner mean- © 
ings; it is discovering the joy of social feeling. The 
emotions of the group seize and fairly sweep the boy 
or girl out of himself to some new elevation or, 
unfortunately, to some new depth. There is a danger 
in leaving these feelings untrained. It is unfortunate 
to pass through these years and miss learning the 
value and power of lofty, elevated feelings, to fail 
to tie these personal emotions to some object worthy 
of their most profound expression, not to discover 
these same lofty feelings in others of one’s own age 
and kind. 

Now, worship in the separate Intermediate De- 


Of the Intermediate Department 89 


partment may fit so well into the experience of 
youths, meet so fully their quest of inner meaning- 
fulness, and satisfy so thoroughly their group con- 
sciousness that their attitudes toward the Infinite 
and toward those other finite beings like themselves 
shall be surcharged with the Christian spirit. Music, 
prayer, Scripture, story, all that goes to make up a 
worship program should be chosen to guide the 
emotional life of the pupils. The fact that worship 
is enjoyed together with others of his own years and 
experience tends to widen for each that appreciation 
of the sublime, the lofty, the nobler sentiments that 
move his fellows as they move himself. 


THE WORSHIPFUL EMOTIONS 


What feelings are to be aroused in these periods of 
worship? Toward God are feelings of (1) gratitude 
expressing themselves in praise and thanksgiving; 
(2) confidence and trust, manifesting themselves in 
expressions of faith; (3) wonder, awe, and depend- 
ence, expressing themselves in acts of reverence and 
in the language of adoration; (4) devotion to God 
and his cause, expressing itself in words and acts of 
loyalty to him and to his followers; (5) love or good 
will, expressing itself in terms of affection and friend- 
ship. Toward each other there may be aroused (1) 


See Worship in the Sunday School, New-York, 1913, Harts- 
horne, for a complete philosophy of worship in relation to 
religious education. 


90 The Organization and Administration 


a er 





—— 


feelings of love and good will, and (2) feelings of 
comradeship in a cause. The last is evidenced by 
such hymns as “Dare to Be a Daniel’’ (not a classic 
but nevertheless written for this specific purpose) 
and 
‘Courage, brother, do not stumble 
Though the path be dark as night; 
There’s a star to guide the humble. 
Trust in God and do the right.”’ 


*‘Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart!’’.is another of the 
Same type. 

If these are the feelings that are to. Bs inspired, 
then, as Hartshorne suggests, we should arrange our 
worship so as to embody these ideas, keeping to a 
certain idea long enough, say a month or more, 
until it shall have had time to make a lasting im- 
pression. 


PREPARING THE PROGRAM 


Obviously there must be preparation for worship 
if it shall minister intelligently to so high an end. 

The responsibihty.—lIn the intermediate years the 
burden of such preparation must rest upon the 
counselor; but by no means should he assume the 
full responsibility for the program. The president 
of the department is to carry the program to execd- 
tion as the presiding officer of the group. The wor- 
ship committee’ is charged with arranging the pro- 


2See page 24. 


Of the Intermediate Department O1 


gram and with securing those who shall take part. 
One or more of the teachers may be called in from 
month to month to assist in building up these pro- 
grams. The counselor may lay out the general 
outline of the year’s worship programs, suggesting 
such subjects as are appropriate and noting the 
special days that must be incorporated in it. With 
such an outline before them the counselor and the 
president, with the program committee and such 
other pupils as they may desire, should develop from 
week to week the specific program for the approach- 
ing Sunday. The president and his coworkers should 
be given the full responsibility of securing the actual 
participation of those members of the department 
or of persons outside whose services are needed to 
make the program effective. If some one is to be 
asked to sing or to recite a biblical or other selection 
or to tell a story, let the pupils assume the duty of 
securing such help. To make such programs worth 
while they must be planned far enough ahead to 
secure the willing and efficient codperation of those 
desired. Such planning should not be undertaken 
during the Sunday session but at some convenient 
hour during the week. 

The parts of the program on which dependence is 
placed to arouse the described emotions are music, 
prayer, and a story or talk. 

Music.—Music is the chief means for arousing 
emotional reactions both in religious and in secular 
life. Witness the place song played in the recent 


92 The Organization and Administration 


tide of patriotic zeal. Community singing became 
popular and tremendously effective. In religious 
life both vocal and instrumental music may be uti- 
lized. The great musical compositions, when well 
executed, have a powerful effect upon the emotions. 
Because of the limited musical ability available in 
many communities the victrola has been suggested 
as an addition to the equipment of the department. 
A suggestive list of records follows which may be 
supplemented at will with a large number of other 
suitable records from the usual catalogues: 


Beethoven 


‘‘ Adagio” from ‘‘ Fourth Symphony.’’ 
“‘Andante”’ from “ Fifth Symphony.” 


Gounod 


‘“‘Unfold, Ye Portals Everlasting.”’ 
‘“There Is a Green Hill Far Away.” 


Handel 
‘Hallelujah Chorus.”’ 
“He Shall Feed His Flock.”’ 
“He Was Despised.”’ 
“‘O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings.”’ 


Haydn 
‘“The Heavens Are Telling.” 


Hymns 7 
‘‘One Sweetly Solemn Thought.” 
‘Abide with Me.” ) 
ALLO velity 
‘Holy Night.” 


Of the Intermediate Department 93 





Mendelssohn 
“Spring Song.”’ 
‘“Consolation.”’ 
éé Hope.”’ 
“I Waited for the Lord.” 
“If with All Your Heart.” 
*“How Lovely Are the Messengers.’’ 


Orchestra 
“It Came Upon the Midnight Clear.’’ 
“Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.” 
‘Joy to the World.” 


Wagner 
““Walkiire.”’ 


Where good instrumental or vocal music can be 
had, it should be utilized. It is not suggested that 
all music of the department should be of highest 
artistic standards, though the selections should al- 
ways be of worth-while music. Utilizing the pupils’ 
skill for special numbers should be encouraged. 
Musical talent, sufficiently advanced to establish 
final standards of taste, is not likely to be found in 
the ages under consideration. For this purpose the 
best musicians are none too good. 

All that has been said of standards in victrola and 
personally executed music applies equally to hymn se- 
lection. Here the well-known is not always the best. 
Cheap songs have cheapened musical appreciation. 
New standards must beset and new ideals established. 
Various selections have been made for this depart- 
ment. One list of considerable length may be found in 
Leaders of Youth (Harris), page 128; another is found in 


94 The Organization and Administration 


The Church School (Athearn), page 197. Miss Maus, in 
Youth and the Church, suggests that all hymns for these 
pupils should consist of three types: ‘‘Those that 
express the individual religious experience—‘Nearer, 
My God, to Thee,’ ‘O Love That Wilt Not Let Me 
Go’; those that express the idea of social goodness 
or the goodness of the group—‘Faith of Our Fathers,’ 
‘Onward, Christian Soldiers’; and those that express 
the idea of world salvation—’Jesus Shall Reign,’ 
‘Where Cross the Crowded Ways of Life.’”” The 
unfortunate fact is that our hymnals are overflowing 
with hymns of the first type, fairly supplied with 
those of the second type, and sadly lacking in those 
of the third. However, hymns of this third type are 
being written and coming into use as new hymnals 
appear. 

Bible reading—Our dependence on the English 
Bible for our vocabulary, imagery, and spirit of 
worship is too well known to need comment. The 
perfunctory reading of a portion of Scripture is to be 
discouraged, but all the more should be encouraged 
the wise selection of biblical matter for the de- 
votional service. Such selections should always be 
made in view of the subject of the hour. The Bible 
is rich in every variety of religious thought and 
feeling if we will only seek the appropriate matter. 
For variety’s sake these selections may be used in 
concert readings, as responsive readings, or by the 
leader only. Well-known passages that have been 


Of the Intermediate Department 95 


memorized in junior years are well worth repeating 
in concert. 

Prayer.—Two forms of prayer serve the needs of 
the intermediates: those which are somewhat formal 
and are entered into by all, and those which are 
extemporary. The former enrich the prayer vo- 
cabulary of the pupils and give the sense of common 
worship.. Unfortunately, we have permitted our use 
of formal prayers to lapse into the repetition of the 
Lord’s Prayer. Other rich prayer material may be 
found in the Psalms, in the English prayer book, and 
in other rituals. There is nothing to prevent and 
everything to encourage the writing of department 
prayers. These should be memorized and become 
the real expression of the devotional life of the pupils. 
Pupils may be discovered who can make in this way 
a real contribution to departmental life. 

Voluntary prayers in departmental worship should 
be confined chiefly to the teachers or to other adults. 
Needless to say, these should never be mere repe- 
titions of customary words but vital and vivid ut- 
terances of the soul’s real needs. The younger 
pupils should not be asked to participate in this part 
of worship while they are still so self-conscious that 
such participation would be unnatural. Their 
training in extemporary prayer is best given in the 
smaller class groups. At the close of the story or 
talk prayer lifts the worshipers directly into the 
presence of the unseen Friend and ties all the earthly 
life up with the Reality that is felt but not seen. 


96 The Organization and Administration 


a 


Where sufficient training has already been given, 
pupils may be called upon for this ‘extemporary 
prayer. 

The talk or story—The story or talk is intended 
to give direction to the thought of the program. 
Lives and deeds of heroism, of self-sacrifice, and of 
nobility; anecdotes illustrating the needs of our 
fellows and the possibilities of our codperation in 
supplying those needs; brief discussion that shall 
lift the plain duties of life out of the realm of the 
commonplace and shall put them on the high plane 
of opportunity—these are -the sort of things that 
should constitute the stories and talks. Facts in — 
plenty are to be utilized, but poetry and narrative . 
that have in them more of truth than fact itself are 
not to be overlooked. Hence, a constant search for 
suitable material in biography, history, current 
events, books of poetry, and the rich abundance of 
fiction must be made by the counselor. 

Working out details —Three steps in building pro- 
grams of worship are: first, selecting the theme for 
the day; secondly, selecting the material that shall en- 
ter into the program—music, prayer, Scripture selec- 
tion, and story; and, lastly, the choice of those who 
shall be responsible for the various parts of the pro- 
gram. As has been suggested, the secretary of the 
department should keep copies of each program 
together with an accurate statement of their success 
together with their points of weakness. 

Selecting the persons to appear upon the program 


Of the Intermediate Department 97 


is by no means the least important matter either. 
Making use of student ability is altogether desirable, 
especially if the teacher or counselor will be certain 
to see that proper training is given to the one who is 
to participate. This does not mean dress rehearsals, 
but simply certainty that the person knows exactly 
what is expected of him, that he will give careful 
preparation to his part, and that he will be certain 
to let the leader know atthe earliest moment if 
through unforeseen occurrence his absence becomes 
necessary. Such additional help is needed as may 
arise from the pupil’s own limited knowledge. 

Again, let it be repeated, the end of all this pro- 
gram planning is that the pupils may have a worship 
service fitted to their intellectual level and awaken- 
ing in them the right emotions toward God, their 
fellow men, and themsleves. 

The art of building programs of worship is not 
attained at the first attempt. Nevertheless, it is 
not an impossible art for anyone who will go thought- 
fully and painstakingly about it. Experience will 
give greater skill, and soon a point will be reached 
when the joy of meeting the devotional needs of the 
pupils will well repay all efforts. 


SUGGESTIVE PROGRAMS 


Some programs of different types which may be 
useful as suggestions here follow: 


7 


98 The Organization and Administration © 


THEME: GRATITUDE 


Processional: ‘‘Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.’’ 

Responsive service: A Psalm of Thanksgiving (for 
example, Psa. 103; 34: 1-10; or 95: 1-7). 

The Lord’s Prayer, or other prayer, in unison. 

Announcements, brief as possible during worship 
peroid. 

Offertory: Offering received. 

Hymn of gratitude and thanksgiving: ‘‘To Thee, O 
Lord, Our Hearts We Raise.” 

Prayer by leader, giving thanks. 

Bible reading: ‘‘Expressing Gratitude”’ (for ex- 
ample, 2 Cor. 9: 5-12). . 

Story, showing gratitude; illustrated by ‘‘ What 
Bradley Owed” from Story Sermons, Kerr; or 
similar stories, or by missionary material carrying 
out the theme of gratitude. 

Sentence prayer, clinching the thought of gratitude 
and asking for help in the lesson period. | 

Recessional to classes: ‘‘I Love to Tell the Story”’ 
from The Opening Service in the Young People’s 
Department. 


THEME: THE MESSAGE OF MUSIC 


Organ (or victrola) prelude. 

Hymn: ‘“‘O, Worship the King.” 

Short talk on ‘“‘The Message of Mustc.’’ Material 
may be found in the Manual for Training in Wor- 
ship, Hartshorne, page 45; ‘‘Music,” page 80; 
*‘Music and Prayer,’ page 81. 

Introduction to Handel’s ‘‘Largo,” followed by 
“* Largo,’ as piano or organ solo. 

Call to worship: 

Oh, come, let us sing before Jehovah; 


Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. 
(Psa. 95: 1.) 


Of the Intermediate Department 99 





Short skeich of the life of Martin Luther as a hymn 
writer, introducing the hymn ‘‘A Mighty Fortress 
Is Our God.’’ Material for talk found in Famous 
Hymns of the World,” Sutherland, pages 159-78. 

Prayer of consecration by department counselor or 
by one of the teachers. 

ITymn: “Faith of Our Fathers.” 

Processtonal to classes. 

(Note: If time does not permit of so long a service, 
eliminate the first song rather than omit any of the 
verses from ‘‘A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.’’)— 
From Youth and the Church, Maus. 


THEME: GOD'S GREATNESS AS REVEALED IN NATURE 


Prelude: ‘‘The Creation,’’ Hadyn (record) 

Hymn: “Oh, Worship the King.” 

Responsive service: Psalms. 8 or 19. 

Prayer in concert: ‘‘O God, we thank thee for this 
universe, our home; for its vastness and its riches, 
and for the manifoldness of the life that teems upon 
it and of which we are part. We praise thee for the 
arching sky and the blessed winds, for the driving 
clouds and the constellations on high. , We praise 
thee for the salt sea and the running water, for the 
everlasting hills, for the trees, and for the grass under 
our feet. We thank thee for our senses by which we 
can see the splendor of the morning and hear the 
jubilant songs of love and smell the breath of the 
springtime. Grant us, we pray thee, a heart wide 
open to all this joy and beauty. . . . Enlarge within 
us the sense of fellowship with all the living things, 
our little brothers, to whom thou hast given this 
earth as their home in common with us. . . . May 
we realize that they,live not for us alone but for 
themselves and for thee, and that they love the 


100 The Organization and Administration 


sweetness of life even as we. . . . When our use of 
this world is over, and we make room for others, 
may we hand on our common heritage fairer 

and sweeter through our use of it.’”—Rauschen- 
busch.s 

Story of the stars (for material see Parables. from 
Nature, Gatty). 

Prayer by the counselor. | 

Hymn: ‘‘For the Beauty of the Earth.” 


THEME: PURITY OF HEART 


Prelude: ‘‘The Walkiire,’’ Wagner (record). 

Concert recitation: The Beatitudes. 

Hymn: ‘Rejoice, Ye Pure in Heart.” 

Story: “Sir Galahad.” (For material see Idyls 
of the King, Tennyson; also The Boy's King Arthur. 
For a good setting to the telling of the story see 
The Use of the Story in Religious Education, Eggles- 
ton, pages 87, 88.) 

Prayer by counselor or teacher. 

Hymn: ‘Courage, Brother, Do Not Stumble,” 
or ‘‘I Would Be True.” | 

Themes for use with intermediates may include 


among others the following: 

Seasonal themes, such as Christmas, Easter, 
Thanksgiving, Patriotism. (See Stories for Every 
Holiday, Bailey.) 

Special days, such as Rally Day, Sunday-School 
Day or Children’s Day, Mother’s Day. 

Birthdays of great men, such as Washington, 
Lincoln, Lee. (See George Washington, the Chris- 
tian, by W. J. Johnson.) ! 





3From Prayers of the Social Awakening, Rauschenbusch;_ 
published by the Pilgrim Press; used by permission. 


Of the Intermediate Department 101 


Missionary biography. (See Making Missions 
Real, by J. S. Stowell; Servants of the King; Live 
Stortes of Great Missionaries; and The Book of 
Missionary [eroes.) 

Stories of great men. | 

Nature (See Parables from Nature, Gatty). 

How God speaks to us. 

Courage and heroism. 

Unselfishness. 


CONDITIONS FOR A WoRSHIPFUL ATMOSPHERE 


Chapter IV considers at length the matter of 
furnishing as well as housing the department. In 
this may be found some further suggestions for 
creating in the surroundings an atmosphere that 
shall be conducive to prayer, meditation, and wor- 
ship. Here let it be stated that good worship, while 
not totally dependent on the physical surroundings, 
especially in adult years, is in these formative years 
greatly helped by a-wise environment. A well- 
appointed room with such conveniences as comfort- 
able chairs, enough hymn books, orderly arrange- 
ment, a good musical instrument, and appropriate 
works of art greatly enhance the probability of 
eliciting the spirit of worship in the pupil group. 

Further, the attitude of the counselor and the 
teachers has much to do with getting the right re- 
sponse. When these adults possess a real spirit 
of worship they communicate the same spirit to 
their pupils. The pupils must feel that their leaders 
are genuinely worshiping, not playing at worship. 


102 The Organization and Administration © 


The entire service should possess a spirit of reverence 
and dignity, at once removed from stilted formality 
on the one hand and from flippant enthusiasm on the 
other. Real sociability is not contrary to good 
worship, but a happy-go-lucky spirit is. Programs 
of worship should aid in worship. If, on the contrary, 
they beget a spirit of dead formality they fail to 
achieve their purpose and may be the means of 
killing the very spirit they are intended to promote. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. Where should worship be placed in the Sunday 
program? 

2. To what in our reiugious consciousness does 
worship make primary appeals? 

3. What attitudes are to be established through 
worship? 

4. Who shall prepare the program? Who shall 
execute it? 

5. What types of hymns should be selected for — 
Intermediates? Why? 

6. Who should offer voluntary prayer in this de- 
partment? 

7. Of what should the talk or story consist? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. Make out a program using as its central theme 
‘“‘Courage.’’ Supply all details. 

2. Using your own hymn book, classify the hymris 
under the headings suggested by Miss Maus. 

3. Would you use unfamiliar music in the pro- 
gram of worship? Would you stop the service to 


Of the Intermediate Department. 103 


teach this new music? When and how would you 
increase the pupils’ familiarity with good music? 

4. If a pupil proves incompetent to lead the wor- 
ship program, would you let him fail or take the 
program out of his hands? What else might be 
done? : 

5. Make a list of special days that you think the 
department ought to observe. 

6. Get the pupils of the Intermediate Depart- 
ment to write several department prayers. Select 
the best one and use it. Note the interest the pupils 
have in their own creation. 

7. Discuss with two or three intermediates whom 
you know well what prayer means to them and what 
they pray for. Becertain to make this a constructive 
and helpful matter to the boys or girls. 


CHAPTER VI 


PROBLEMS OF DEPARTMENT MANAGEMENT AND 
SUPERVISION | 


INSTRUCTION is to be considered in this chapter 
only in so far as the organization and administration 
of the department and of the various classes con- 
cern success in the teaching process. For a com- 
plete discussion of the lesson materials for this age, 
as well as of the methods of teaching by which these 
materials may most successfully be used, the reader 
is referred to the text on teaching materials and 
methods for intermediates in this teacher-training 
series of specialization studies for intermediate 
workers. 

Successful teaching rests upon something more 
than the technique of teaching and the right choice 
of lesson material. Among the other matters that 
concern good teaching, either directly or indirectly, 
are the time allotted to the class period, the pro- 
gram of the class hour, the pupils’ home study, the 
supervision of teachers, tests of their efficiency and 
standards for their guidance, and, finally, super- 
vision and discipline of the pupils. These topics 
will be considered in their order. 


LENGTH OF CLASS PERIOD 


The class period in many of our schools is ridicu- 
(104) 


The Intermediate Department 105 


lously short—sometimes infinitesimal. From fifteen 
to twenty minutes is the entire time allotted each. 
week to religious instruction in a large part of the 
Protestant church. ‘‘Thirty minutes a week for 
religious instruction in Protestant churches, whereas 
in the day school the instruction in mathematics 
would be equivalent to forty-one years of Sunday- 
school instruction.’’* The facts are really more 
appalling than even this statement of the case sug- 
gests. Before asking for more time, however, the 
two following considerations should be given due 
weight: first, the class period, though small, should 
be jealously guarded; and, secondly, it should be 
fully utilized. What is the actual procedure in many 
schools? First, to start late. Thereby every part 
of the day’s program is injured. Sometimes the 
worship program suffers; quite as often, if not more 
frequently, the class period is curtailed. But start- 
ing late is not the only affliction suffered. Inter- 
ruptions occur, visitors enter late, the secretary 
bustles in and out distracting attention, the super- 
intendent comes around with a belated notice, some 
well-meaning but thoughtless friend introduces 
himself to ‘‘say a word’”’ to the class. All in all, the 
class period is badly dissipated by these intruders 
on its insufficient time. 





1This statement was printed in a child-welfare exhibit held 
in New York City, according to W. H. Gibson. See Boyology, 
page 233. 


106 The Organization and Administration 

Now, all such vexatious annoyances can be avoided 
if the administration of the department become 
efficient. It is the counselor’s duty to safeguard the 
teaching hour. He is to ward off both friend and foe 
alike. Provision must elsewhere be made for the 
reports, the announcements, and for the introduction 
of those who must talk to his groups. Sometimes 
he will have to be firm, even though kind, in his re- 
fusal to allow his teachers and pupils to be inter- 
rupted in their precious twenty or thirty minutes. 
He and his teachers must stimulate prompt at- 
tendance, that no time be lost from class or from 
worship. Much may be done at this point by mak- 
ing it the unchanging rule to begin promptly on 
the minute and by having it understood that every 
teacher and officer be in his place ten minutes be- 
fore the hour of beginning. Example is worth more 
than complaint and faultfinding. . 

Quite as important as conserving the time by 
preventing its curtailment is the judicious utilization 
of eacl moment of the allotted period. Much time 
is wasted by irrelevant matters; by insufficient 
preparation of the lesson by the teacher and the 
consequent dawdling over insignificant details; by 
the introduction of foreign matter into the lesson 
itself. Sometimes well-intentioned teachers permit 
a gross waste of time by the president of the class, 
who, without a definite program, rambles from one 


2See A Social Theory of Religious Education, Coe, page 243. 


Of the Intermediate Department 107 





thing to another. We must expect youthfulness 
and inexperience; we do not need to continue to 
expect carelessness and wastefulness. 

But even when lesson preparation on the part of 
the teacher has been well made, and interruptions 
and delays have been reduced to a minimum, it will 
be found that twenty or even thirty minutes are all 
too brief for the class period. In the intermediate 
years, as has been indicated before, the class, far 
more than the department, is the unit of the life 
of the pupils; hence, the business of the class, the 
self-directed life of the group under the presidency 
of the class, must be developed and made effective. 
That takes time. Further, the most effective teach- 
ing is not by the lecture method but rather by class 
discussion, which rests back upon such knowledge 
of the facts of the lesson as make discussion 
possible. As many of the pupils at the present day 
make no preparation of the lesson before coming 
to class, time must be had for lesson study or lesson 
presentation that shall put the facts concretely be- 
fore the class before discussion can proceed. All 
this demands an extension of the class period, if any 
real attainments are to be expected, to a limit of 
not less than forty or forty-five minutes. It is hard 
to think that any church school cannot provide for 
such a class period. Indeed, it will soon be evident 
that, if the best work is to be done, still more time 
' must be obtained either on Sunday or during the 
the week. How this may be brought about will be 


108 The Organization and Administration © 





considered later. For the present it is well to de- 
termine just how the allotted period should be 
utilized. 

THE CLASS PROGRAM 


As a self-constituted group the class is in charge 
of its president. He it is who calls the class to order 
and presides over the class period, delegating his 
power to the teacher at the appropriate moment. 
The worship and business session is not an infringe- 
ment upon the teacher’s time; it is the class think- 
ing and acting together about the affairs of the 
kingdon of God. In this capacity they are learning 
the art of Christian codperation, planning how best 
to meet some of the real problems of life.» The brief 
devotional service, conducted by one of their own 
number, is essential to that growth of religious feel- 
ing and expression that shall find fruitage in their 
present lives and training for their richer later ex- 
perience. Solicttude for absentees develops loyalty — 
to the class, to the school, and to the larger interests 
of the kingdom. Active planning for and partici- 
pation in deeds of service extend their limited sym- 
pathies and enlarge their concept of how the spirit 
of Christ works in this world. All such self-directed 
thinking and acting is developing self-reliance and 
skill in handling the concrete situations that they 
must be trained to meet as Christian men and 
women. 

But we must permit no dawdling, no waste of 
valuable time: hence the need of a definite program. 


—_ 


Of the Intermediate Department 109 


If the class period is forty minutes long, a wise 
division of time is somewhat as follows: 


Call to order. 
Devotion (consisting of prayer or prayer 


by, members of 'the-class). 2. ........ 2 minutes 
Report of membership committee..... 1 minute 
Report of service committee.......... 1 minute 
Suggestions and announcements by pres- 

ident and unfinished business........ 2 minutes 
phe messon le ehh aes. .Q tedniain, 33 minutes 


Closing prayer by teacher or pupil..... 1 minute 


es 


40 minutes 


Brief prayers are much more natural than long 
prayers at this age, sentence ‘prayers taking pre- 
cedence over others. Their language may be quite 
colloquial, whereas the prayers in the worship 
service of the department should be well ordered 
and thus models of prayer diction. The reports 
of committees should be brief yet full enough to tell 
the class exactly what has and what has not been 
accomplished during the week just past. They 
should also contain suggestions for the coming week. 
Such reports are the only means of keeping the com- 
mittees actively engaged in their work. The presi- 
dent, having collaborated with the teacher of the 
class, should be able to outline suggestions for the 
consideration of the class, thus insuring real leader- 
ship on his part. Much depends on the initiative 
displayed at this point for the vitality of the class. 
_ Discussion of proposed lines of activity should be 


110 The Organization and Administration 





confined to the specified time; the midweek meeting 
of the class provides for further consideration. By 
adhering strictly to such a program as the foregoing 
the class will be prevented from becoming wearied 
by routine discussion and from becoming indifferent 
to the living issues being worked out by those whom 
they have placed in authority. Needless to say, 
during the time the president is in the chair the 
teacher is a member of the class, accorded the same 
privileges of discussion as the others. As one of the 
group but not their leader he may advise and direct 
affairs even better than as administrator. ' 


SUPERVISING THE TEACHERS 


Teacher supervision is a problem of administration. 
If the counselor is to be made responsible to the 
general superintendent of the school for the work of 
his department, it follows that he must supervise 
the teaching carried on. Not as an autocrat does 
the counselor work, but as a friend and helper of 
teacher and pupil. His is the task of organizing the 
entire teaching program; his to see that each teacher 
does his best. Encouragement here, suggestion 
there, a book put into the hand of this worker, and 
a consultation hour with that will do wonders, The 
counselor should quickly find out the present limita- 
tions and the abilities and possibilities of each person 
on his faculty. He should be the means whereby 
unity is brought into the program of instruction, at 
the same time giving to the teacher the greatest 


Of the Intermediate Department 111 


latitude consistent with the good of the whole. To 
obtain a possible candidate for his department, to 
encourage him to take all possible preliminary train- 
ing, to continue his training through practice teach- 
ing, through personal oversight, and through the loan 
of books until he becomes a master workman should 
be the counselor’s delight. And if it is a real school, 
and if advice, encouragement, suggestion, and help 
are all extended in the spirit of seeking greater ef- 
ficiency in the department, then no personal feelings 
need be hurt, no ill will established. 

The department council is the great clearing house 
for the work in hand. Once a week when possible, 
once a month at least, all workers in the department 
should gather for consultation, advice, and sug- 
gestion. Conditions in each class should be thor- 
oughly gone over, difficult situations considered, 
and ways devised to solve the problems. Here, with 
his workers, the counselor finds his greatest oppor- 
tunity to fulfill his function as executive. It is not 
on Sunday that he can plan for larger and better 
things, meet difficult situations, and help solve 
perplexing problems; but during the quiet of the 
council hour these matters may receive his best 
attention. 

The counselor’s attention must constantly be 
given to equipment for each class. To become 
careless or negligent of responsibility to each teacher 
who has voluntarily consented to help in his depart- 
ment reveals weakness as an executive and leader. 


112 The Organization and Administration 


The counselor should anticipate such needs as pupils’ 
books, chalk, maps, mucilage, and other things, 
great and small, which facilitate good teaching, and 
so far as it is within his power he should see that these 
things are provided ahead of the day for their use. 
Ever alert to the teachers’ needs, he will build up 
the department library, point out sources of infor- 
mation at the public library, call attention to articles 
of note in the current magazines bearing upon the 
lesson material, and ever be ready to give a helping 
hand. ! | 

A problem always before the competent counselor 
of this department is that of supply. teachers. In 
the most devoted and reliable staff. there are days 
when some one is ill or otherwise unavoidably de- 
tained from school, and a substitute must be found. 
The alert superintendent will anticipate such a day 
and have about him cadet teachers, who, as helpers 
in various capacities, will also be learning to teach. 
Through the study of the lesson materials in use in 
the department, through the reading of good books 
on intermediate-senior work, through the teacher- 
training classes in church or community, through 
practice teaching in the presence of the regular 
teacher, and through criticism of such teaching in 
the council these cadets will be in training to take 
the places made vacant occasionally by sickness or 
permanently by removal from the school. It is 
impossible to pick up competent teachers when 
each grade of each department uses lesson material 


Of the Intermediate Department 113 


suited to it and, therefore, different from the others. 
Hence, under our new curriculum in the church 
school, cadet teachers are essential to the success 
of the work. 


EFFICIENCY STANDARDS AND TESTS 


No. supervision can become successful until 
standards are set, determining what is and is not 
good teaching. When teachers know definitely 
what is expected of them, when criticism is based 
on definite and commonly recognized standards, 
and when all have accepted these standards as guides 
in their own efforts, then only does supervision be- 
come truly possible. With standards lacking, super- 
vision, though well intended, may seem like inter- 
ference and personal censure. Some of the standards, 
of which the component items and their values 
should be determined upon, are here suggested: 


1. Attendance at church school....... 10 
2. Promptness (ten minutes before the 

LGA; D2 00 gg oe te Uae ae AA oh ae DARE Rta the ee 5 
3. Ability to secure attendance of class. 10 
4, Ability to hold interest of class..... 20 
5. Ability to get pupils to do deeds of 

service and helpfulness............ 20 
De yerepook work of class... ...%..<.... 20 
Pema ienarcouncil meeting... ..... 2c. 10 
8. Reading of a good book each year 


on adolescent religious work...... 


A score card on a percentage basis of the foregoing 
points can be arranged by the department so that 
8 


114 The Organization and Administration 


each teacher may know where he stands, and will 
prove helpful in setting standards of efficiency. 
These score cards should be mailed or handed to 
each teacher each quarter. In some schools both 
the teacher and the supervisor score the teacher’s 
work separately, then compare results. This opens 
the way for frank discussion of the teacher’s work 
and of the needs of the class. The danger in such 
rating is to.set mechanical standards for one’s work, 
whereas success in teaching is determined largely 
by spiritual qualities of the personality. Neverthe- 
less, there are laws governing teaching, and there 
are objective standards of its results by which each 
may measure himself. By all means these should 
be established and utilized. wig 


SUPERVISING THE PUPILS 


Supervision of instruction in the department does 
not end with the teacher. The pupil’s welfare and 
progress are the end in view in all such efforts; and 
the counselor, while dependent on his teachers for 
final success, should feel his responsibility to each 
pupil to see that he is rightly placed, has the right - 
attitude toward his teacher and his fellow pupils, 
and is in every possible way aided in getting the 
most out of his instruction. 

First of all, the size of the classes will call for con- 
stant oversight. The tendency is for pupils to bring 
their friends into the same classes as themselves. 
If grading is carefully carried out, and if the dis- 


Of the Intermediate Depariment — 115 





tribution of pupils is judiciously made, there will be 
little difficulty. But even then classes will tend to 
grow too large and will call for division. (See page 
39.) 

Next will be the misplaced pupil, mentally too 
young or too old for the class in which he finds him- 
self. These adjustments, already considered from 
the standpoint of the pupils (see page 37), are to be 
looked at from every angle, and it is equally necessary 
to keep well in mind the viewpoint of the teacher 
during the teaching hour. A disinterested pupil 
is a drag on the class or worse. 

Fortunately we are hearing less and less regarding 
discipline in the church school. Having discovered 
and applied the fact that interest is the solution of 
problems of discipline, leaders of youth have spent 
less time on what to do with the unruly boy and 
more on obtaining competent teachers who can 
command interest and enlist energies. Neverthe- 
less, crises may arise at any time, and these demand 
the most skillful handling of which the wisest super- 
intendent is capable. Frictions that ought not to 
occur do occur; and pupils, misunderstanding the 
intentions of a teacher, are sometimes lost to the 
church school.’ 





3] was in a Jewish Sunday school one morning and noted 
with pleasure a case of ‘‘discipline”’ of a twelve- or thirteen- 
year-old boy. He had been guilty of disrespect to his teacher. 
Instead of ‘‘bawling out’’ the youngster before his class the 
superintendent took him aside and talked the whole matter 


116 The Organization and Administration 


The capable superintendent will ever be alert to 
detect growing restlessness among the pupils, will 
seek for causes, will counsel with teachers over such 
situations, will, if needed, call in the codperative 
help of the officers of the class involved, and will 
seek through every means to make the object of his 
inquiry certain that the school and its officers and 
teachers are desirous of nothing else than his best 
good. His efforts will never be to “uphold the 
discipline of the school,’’ but to discover the root 
of the maladjustment and to correct the difficulty 
if it lies within his power. Sometimes this will mean 
readjustment of classes; sometimes it -will call for 
home coéperation; sometimes it will, mean a visit 
to the public school to learn the interests and be- 
havior of the pupil; most frequently, however, it— 
requires little more than a friendly chat with the 
dificult pupil, permitting him naturally and with- 
out embarrassment to reveal his own viewpoint. 

Providing for the pupils’ study—lIt has already 
been noted that worth-while class discussion must 





out. They were within earshot, and it was highly pleasing - 
to see how the superintendent tried to get the boy’s view- 
point, showed him that his act was certainly unmanly and 
discourteous, and led him step by step to see that the only 
really manly and courteous thing to do was to make his 
apologies to the woman whom he had, in his thoughtless 
youthfulness, insulted. The whole affair was so far removed 
from the too-frequent attitude of ‘‘Make him behave or put 
him out,’’ or of ‘‘We’ll have to put up with him because we 
can’t afford to let him go,” that my heart rejoiced, 


Of the Intermediate Department 117 


rest upon a basis of known facts, and these facts 
are to be known only through the study of the lesson 
itself. Many teachers find the handicap of the too- 
brief class period greatly increased by the pupil’s 
entire lack of lesson preparation. The motives and 
the methods effective in securing study by inter- 
mediate pupils belong to another textbook in this 
series. It is, however, an administrative respon- 
sibility to recognize the need for supervised study 
and to provide opportunity for it. Some teachers do 
this by combining with a social half hour a half hour 
or more of concentrated work on notebooks or of 
showing the pupils ‘‘what to do and how to do it”’ 
with text and maps and references. The schedule 
of time and place for this work for each class group 
should be the concern of the counselor. 

In many rural communities, where no other serv- 
ice occurs on that day, the lesson hour may be increased 
to any length desired. Here is a splendid chance to 
inaugurate an additional period; first, a study period, 
when for thirty minutes teacher and pupil shall get 
the facts of the lesson well in hand; secondly, a 
period of worship, when the carefully prepared pro- 
gram of worship shall be the ‘‘church” service for 
the day; thirdly, the recitation period, in which, 
on the basis of the study of the earlier hour, the 
lesson and its great truths shall be discussed in all 
their fullness. The same plan is possible in any city 
if the start is made enough earlier in the morning, 
or if the school is placed in the afternoon instead of 


118 The Organization and Administration 








just before or just after the preaching service of the 
church. A few churches, in which the pastor realizes 
that his Sunday-morning sermon is a message for 
adults exclusively, are experimenting with the plan 
of a separate church service for intermediates. This 
combines their church-school worship with a ‘“‘ser- 
mon’’ especially adapted to them, which is a little 
longer than the ‘‘story or talk’’ in the programs of 
Chapter V. Here the supervised study precedes, 
and the class session follows, their ‘‘church”’ worship. 

Pupil supervision in instruction will also reach to 
the matter of departmental rewards and honors (com- 
pare page 46) and of supplying good literature for the 
department. It is not enough to have theclasses 
meet or even have to them well taught; the depart- 
ment is partly responsible for the reading tastes that 
are developing among its pupils. Thesuperintendent 
should be on the alert to find and suggest to his teach- 
ers sources of information for classuse. In like man- 
ner he will be eager to suggest books near enough akin > 
to the lesson in hand to be of immediate interest 
to the pupils. These he should at the appropriate 
time recommend to the classes, either personally or 
through the teachers. Posters advertising their 
attractiveness are one way of calling the pupils’ 
attention to these good books. 

Again let it be repeated that instruction is only 
a means to the final end—that is, to a rounded Chris- 
tian character, able and willing to do its best for the 
Master and his cause. Consequently, supervision 


Of the Intermediate Department 119 





of instruction is never ended until it functions in 
supervision of the developing life of the pupils. 
This, however, leads to the larger phases of religious 
teaching, including recreation, service, and other 
phases of the pupils’ lives. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. Suggest ways of conserving all the time of the 
class period. 

2. What items should be included in the class 
program’? How long should prayers be? Why? 

3. In what ways may supervision help to secure 
lesson preparation? 7 

4. Name some duties of the counselor included 
under the head of supervision. 

5. What value has an efficiency test for teachers? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. Watch an Intermediate Department next 
Sunday to determine how far the counselor really 
supervises the work of the department. Review the 
chapter after Sunday, scoring a teacher you have 
observed. 

2. A teacher was teaching his class when the 
superintendent introduced to him and to his class a 
man who talked to them for ten minutes on the 
anticigarette campaign. The lesson was from 
Leaders of Israel. The talk of the man was upon a 
subject vital to the welfare of the class. Discuss, 
criticizing as you think fit. 

3. What would be the effect of (1) putting a pupil 
at the task of teaching the lesson; (2) lecturing to 
the class; (3) dividing the class into two teams and 





120. Organization and Administration 


using counters to determine score while the teacher 
asked questions on the lesson? | 

4. Which, if any, of the following would aid in 
securing prompt attendance upon the class ‘session: 
a banner, a formal announcement from the plat- 
form, a report on the blackboard of attendance by 
classes, a reprimand? 

5. Are boys habitually late at a baseball game? 
Why? 

6. A class without supplies for three Sundays 
heard the following explanation: ‘‘ Boys, the super- 
intendent has failed again to get any supplies to us. 
I told him two weeks ago that we were out.’’ Tell 
what was wrong and how to right it. 

7. A teacher of a class of girls was well educated, 
attractive, and capable of teaching well, but she was 
always late and frequently absent. What steps 
would you have taken as superintendent of the de- 
partment? What would you have done had you 
been the student president? 

8. A teacher appealed to her superintendent con- 
cerning a girl over whom she apparently had no 
control. What steps would you have taken as 
counselor to straighten out the trouble? 


CHAPTER VII 
LEADERSHIP OF RECREATION 


ONE of the discoveries in religious leadership in 
recent years has been the place of recreation in the 
moral and spiritual development of the young. It 
is a long way from the condemnation of all play—a 
position taken by some earnest parents and religious 
leaders of three or four generations ago—to the wise 
provisions the church schools are making for the 
young of the present generation. Instead of play now 
being considered irreligious, or even unreligious, it is 
conceded to possess rich religious possibilities. Even 
more, it is believed that to neglect this great need of 
the lives of the young is to invite disaster, moral and 
spiritual. 

THE VALUE OF RECREATION 


Using the word “‘recreation’’ in a broad sense to 
include play and other self-directed effort in opposi- 
tion to necessary or required effort, let us endeavor to 
estimate the place recreation should have in the lives 
of intermediates. They are at the point of rapid body 
building, of great outreach of mental powers, and of 
rich social expansion. The excessively sedentary life 
demanded by modern education and stimulated still 
further by inviting books and the movies must be 
balanced by plays and sports demanding muscular 
activity. If a good body is fundamental to a well- 

(121) 


p22 The Organization and Administration 





developed mind and soul, religious workers do well to 
give much attention to the play life of those under 
their care, particularly during these years that put 
special strain on the body. 

Recreation means more than sports and games; 
for instance the satisfactions that come from con- 
structive activity—building boats, wireless outfits, 
houses in the woods, quarters for little pets, basketry, 
and all the crafts; pleasures that are derived from 
the quest of the unknown or the known, such as is 
found in collecting anything from post cards to 
butterflies and moths; and the pleasures of imagina- 
tion and expression, as in reading, story-telling, and 
dramatization. Play has been the great educator of 
the race, and the experiments of the young in their 
play hours have rivaled the school in their fruitage. | 
If education is to fit man to know and use the world 
in which he lives, we must give large place to those 
activities which easily and naturally introduce the 
young to their physical and social environment. 

But, above all, it is in the realm of the moral and 
spiritual that recreation makes its largest appeal to 
religious leadership. To live happily with one’s 
fellows and to learn to live well in the presence of 
God are the aim and end of all religious education 
and this end can be achieved nowhere more satis- 
factorily than in the free play of the religious leader 
and his group. In these years, above all others, 
religion must be life rather than theories or ideals; 
for religion is a way of living, a habit of action, the 


Of the Intermediate Department 123 


establishment of right attitudes. Fortunately we do 
not often have to decide between one who can teach 
well in class and one who can play well with his 
pupils; but if such choice must be made, in the inter- 
est of character development, of spiritual training, 
and of true Christianization the choice should fall 
upon the one who knows how to participate in and 
direct to real growth in Christian character the 
recreational activities of those under his care. It is 
here that they learn to play fair according to the 
rules of the game; it is here that in the most natural 
way they learn the give-and-take of life; it is here 
that kindness, faithfulness, loyalty, sincerity, truth- 
fulness, become not abstract virtues but definite re- 
sponses to life’s situations; and it is here that they 
learn to appreciate personality, to discover their inter- 
dependence upon one another, and, if the leader is 
what a religious leader ought to be, to discover the 
reality of that ever-present Friend as their own Com- 
panion. But why further catalogue the advantages 
of recreation? Every alert leader of boys and girls 
has discovered that a day in the open with his young 
friends is worth many days in the class; that the 
intimacies of recreational hours cement as does noth- 
ing else the friendships that make him in a special 
sense the representative of the Master whom he 
serves. | ) 
THE VALUE OF SUPERVISION 

It is true that we do not have to teach our pupils 

to want to play any more than we have to teach the 


124 The Organization and Administration 


young of animals to frolic; but it is sometimes over- 
looked that all children learn, from some source, 
what they play. Resourcefulness in recreation is not 
overabundant. Watch a crowd of boys and girls and 
see how soon they reach the limits of their originality. 
There are observable differences of initiative among 
them, but when left without a guiding hand the larger 
number soon drop into inactivity or into undesirable 
forms of amusement. The large number of idle 
youths who stand about the streets waiting for some- 
thing to happen, the considerable number of girls who 
sit idly talking and talking, with no effort to amuse 
themselves, not to mention the gangs that issue forth 
in predatory groups to find pleasure at the expense of 
anyone who can be made the victim.of their per- 
verted sense of fun are all further indications of the 
general need of guidance in play. 

But guidance in recreation is something far differ- 
ent from an autocratic direction of youthful activity. 
Recreation, to continue to be recreation, must always. 
be spontaneous, self-directing. How can this seeming 
contradiction be harmonized? During the years of 
early adolescence guidance must be exercised in 
planning recreation with the young rather than in 
planning for the young. It must come about through 
thorough and intelligent sympathy with what these 
boys and girls are interested in and a clear under- 
standing of what they like. They must be helped to 
find their own recreations. The best fun is in self- 
directed play or construction or striving after a de- 


Of the Intermediate Depariment 125 


sirable object. What the boys and girls want are 
knowledge, skill, bodily strength, and efficiency that 
shall satisfy both the natural curiosity of this period of 
life and its demand for power. Knowledge, skill, and 
power—these are the three objectives in all worth- 
while recreation. But to be effective they must be 
concrete. It is fun to find out something they want to 
know; to do well (anda little better than the other fel- 
low) something they care todo; to overcome obstacles 
they have chosen to measure their strength with. 

The leader must furnish the initiative, the fertile 
mind, that shall discover to these restless boys and 
girls forms of activity which promise a good time be- 
cause they come within the limits of their under- 
standing and the range of their eager spirits. The 
leader must be able to prevent a project from break- 
ing down because the limits of their resources have 
been reached and to shift their evanescent interest 
to some new and equally desirable objective before 
wearied nerves and muscles rebel. 


SUGGESTIVE PROGRAMS 


No person wishes to become a mere imitator, but 
anyone is foolish indeed who will not profit by the 
experience others have gained at great cost. The 
worker with intermediates in our church should by 
all means master the theory and the practice of 
scouting, whether it be under the auspices of the 
Boys Scouts of America, the Girl Scouts, the Camp 
Fire Girls, or some other such group. The boys’ and 


126 The Organization and Administration 


girls’ departments of the Young Men’s Christian 
Association and the Young Women’s Christian Asso- 
ciation, respectively, furnish much suggestion. 
Whether these organizations shall be adopted in 
the church-school program or not, no worker with 
boys and girls can afford to be ignorant of their ex- 
cellent programs of recreational activities for boys 
and girls of these years. The happy combination of 
play, physical activity, intellectual pursuits, ac- 
quirement of skill, knowledge of woodcraft, and ready 
adjustment to group living makes these plans indis- 
pensable. The paraphernalia of badges, uniforms, 
secret words and signs, standards of efficiency, and 
promotion to rank are the best means yet devised to 
produce the strong, ‘capable, self-reliant boys and 
girls that we seek. One who knows little about 
recreation among intermediate pupils can do nothing. 
better than to get the manuals of one or more of 
these organizations and master them thoroughly. 
The information thus obtained will enable him to 
understand the viewpoint of his pupils better than 
ever before, and he will have at hand a guidebook to 
his work of inestimable value. | 
Scout troops are usually too large to be managed 
by a single teacher. If a troop is to be organized it 
should be a department enterprise undertaken in 
codperation with the entire administration of the 
school. There is great value in being a part of a 
democratic organization that reaches through many 
various social and religious affiliations.' Whether or 


Of the Intermediate Depariment 127 


not the church school decides to enroll as a Camp 
Fire, a Scout Troop, or a Girl Reserve Corps, the 
principles of Scouting, woodcraft, camp fire, and the 
like are fundamental to true moral and religious edu- 
cation in the early teens. These principles are: 


1. To utilize educationally the recreational life of 
the young. 

2. To keep to the open as much as possible. 

3. To develop the big muscles first. 

4. To establish wholesome relations in fun and 
worth-while effort between the adult leader and the 


young. 
5. To gain skill through activity. 
6. To build character through practice. 


THE ORGANIZATION OF INTERMEDIATE RECREATION 


Provision will have to be considered both for class 
and for department recreation. In the chapter on 
“Department Organization’’ (Chapter I) a recrea- 
tion committee was provided to care for this form of 
department activity; and a similar committee 
(Chapter III) was provided to function in the class. 
Experience has taught many workers that the heavy 
burden of planning recreational activities falls upon 
the class committee, for the reason, first, that to keep 
alive and healthy the class needs frequent meetings; 


See -The Boy Scout Movement Applied by the Church, 
Richardson and Loomis. Alsosend to your denominational 
headquarters for suggestions as to these organizations. 
Some have put out pamphlets concerning one or another 
of them. 


128 The Organization and Administration 


and, secondly, the group spirit of the class is stronger 
than the group spirit of the larger body. Among 
seniors and young people, department gatherings in 
which both sexes are thrown together are of greater 
value than the gathering in classes; but interme- 
diates need most of their opportunities for community 
life within the smaller group. 

While planning and direction by the pupil com- 
mittee is the ideal to be striven for in both class and 
department, it will be found that the teacher of the 
class and the adult workers in the department will 
have to supply the experience lacking among these 
boys and girls. Much personal attention must be 
given both to creating and to executing recreational 
programs if success is to be won. 

The practical ideal, therefore, is to plan with and 
through the class or department committee, making 
it incumbent upon the chairman and his fellow work- 
ers to carry the program into effect. Thorough 
understanding and hearty codperation should exist 
between the classes and the department, so that there 
shall be no clashes between the plans of the various 
groups. The program for the department should ex- 
tend over six months, should be balanced as to forms 
of activity, and should have reference to seasonable 
interests as well as to days and events. In the social 
and recreational gatherings of either the class or the 
department it is the chairman of the recreation com- 
mittee who is in charge. 


Of the Intermediate Department 129 


TYPES OF RECREATION 


No list of recreational activities is ever final and 
complete, for each age improves old forms of play and 
produces new ones. The most that can be attempted 
within the compass of this chapter is to point out 
some types of recreation and to indicate sources for 
further information. 

1. The hike—This simple form of recreation is 
always acceptable to this age and to both sexes. The 
essentials are: (1) a definite objective such as a partic- 
ular geographical point, a factory, an object of 
special interest, etc.; (2) a definite starting time, a 
definite arriving time, and definite time to return; 
(3) provision for “‘eats,’’ simple but enough to be sus- 
taining until the return; (4) thorough knowledge on 
the part of the leader of every step of the way and 
every point in the program. The values of the hike 
include opportunity for fellowship; discovery of 
individual interests, likes, dislikes, and limitations; 
physical exercise; increased knowledge. Practically 
no expense is involved, and this is a well-nigh univer- 
sal appeal. : 

2. The sports—Hunting, fishing, swimming, boat- 
ing, skating, skiing, snowshoeing, according to 
geographical location and to the seasons, are open to 
all and should be favored in any program of recrea- 
tion. The leader who participates with his pupils in 
these sports finds many occasions for cementing his 
friendship. At the intermediate age both sexes like 
all of the sports just named. To the boys’ program 

9 


130 The Organization and Adminisiration 


may be added boxing, wrestling, Indian wrestling, 
“‘cockfighting,”’ tug-of-war, fencing, wrist wrestling; 
and these may take place either indoors or out. 

3. Games—These form an important group of 
recreational activities. To possess the knowledge of 
a wide variety of games and how to play them is 
quite as essential for the leader of intermediate pupils 
as to be able to join in sports and other outdoor ac- 
tivities. Games are usually classified as team games 
(such as, baseball, punchball, basketball, etc.) ; play- 
ground games (three-deep, various forms of tag, re- — 
lay races, prisoner’s base, drop-the-handkerchief) ; 
and parlor games (including the various questioning 
and guessing games, ‘‘catches,’’ ‘‘Up Jenkins,” and 
the like). In general the more active of each kind 
take precedence in both interest and value over those 
of a more sedentary character and they surpass all 
other forms of entertainment in popularity for de- 
partment social gatherings. A handbook by William 
R. LaPorte furnishes a considerable list of games, 
with a brief description of how each is played, and con- 
tains an excellent bibliography for those seeking 
further information. | 

4, Field and track events.—Field and track furnish 
opportunities for physical recreation. Some of the 
well-known forms of events are: fifty-yard dash, hun- 
dred-yard dash, hurdling, pole vaulting, high jump and 
broad jump (both running and standing), sack race, 
wheelbarrow race, potato race, relay race, tirree- 
legged race, tug-of-war. Some of these are suitable 


Of the Intermediate Department. 131 


for girls, but girls’ team and field work should be 
done separately. 

5. Entertainments —The seasons furnish many oc- 
casions for indoor entertainments, such as Saint 
Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Easter, April Fool’s Day, 
Valentine’s Day, Washington’s Birthday, and others. 
Four things are essential to the success of these occa- 
sions: first, invitations; secondly, decorations; third- 
ly, activities; fourthly, refreshments. These are 
especially desirable as departmental gatherings, sub- 
committees providing for each of the four matters 
named above. / 

6. Dramatics—Both boys and girls are highly 
interested in dramatic representations, and these 
pupils may become skillful in putting stories- into 
dramatic form. Either a class or the department as 
a whole may engage in the enterprise. Arranging the 
drama, costuming, scenery, all constitute activi- 
ties of greatest interest and develop mental, manual, 
and social skill. Worship, service to others, apprecia- 
tion of biblical and missionary facts, teamwork, and 
much fun and sociability are all perfectly possible 
results of dramatization rightly done. Adult com- 
panions must be alert to see that these benefits 
are realized and that showing off, jealous rivalry, 
artificiality, and other undesirable effects are pre- 
vented. 

Directions for this form of entertainment may be 
found in Dramatization of Bible Stories and Dramati- 
zation 11 the Church School, Miller; How to Produce 


132 The Organization and Administration 


Amateur Plays, Clark; Costumes and Scenery for 
Amateurs, MacKay; and Drama in Religious Service, 
Candur. : 

7. Reading—Administrators in the Intermediate 
Department, both counselor and teachers, should 
know the reading habits of the pupils; what they have 
already read, what they are now actualy reading, 
and what they like to read. This knowledge can be 
obtained naturally and easily in class and personal 
discussions of a good book to read or perhaps to give 
to a convalescent member. : But the lists obtained 
should be written down and used by the department 
council as a basis for compiling lists of desirable 
books. Now, books, like people, cannot be fairly 
judged by hearsay evidence, and it will be necessary 
to assign the lists reported as read by pupils among | 
the various adults in the department to determine’ 
what is in them and to what they make their appeal, 
as well as to discover if less desirable reading is going 
on. This first-hand knowledge is prerequisite to 
fulfilling the duties of adult advisers to the reading 
life of their pupils. 

Boys and girls would as soon read a wholesome 
book as an unwholesome one—if it is interesting. © 
The unwholesome reading may be the result of ig- 
norance, of the suggestion of some one whose tastes 
are undeveloped or depraved, or of simply finding 
nothing else at hand. It is a lifelong service to direct 
the attention of boys and girls who already have a 
healthy appetite for reading to a wide choice of enter- 


Of the Intermediate Department 133 


taining books of right ideals and attitudes and to see 
that plenty of such are available. 

With those pupils who have not yet developed a 
taste for reading of any kind the adult’s service is to 
awaken interest and to furnish at the appropriate 
moment the right satisfaction to this awakened 
hunger. This satisfaction is far more apt to come 
from a book recommended by a fellow pupil, so the 
teacher and the counselor will function most wisely 
as ‘‘clearing houses,” enlisting the partnership of all 
the pupils. Often the spur to reading comes from 
the interest in some activity, such as photography or 
radio, or some appreciation of birds and insects started 
during a hike or camp. 

Besides stories, handicraft, and nature lore, al- 
ready suggested, classified reading lists for this age 
usually include also biography, travel, and adventure 
and appreciation books, such as those on music, 
pictures, etc. A very good classified book list, graded 
to meet the needs of growing pupils, may be obtained 
from the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh; price, 
fifteen cents. Only the upper grades are of value to 
those advising the pupils of the intermediate group. 
Miss Moxcey, in Leadership of Girls’ Activities (The 
Methodist Book Concern, Cincinnati; price, sixty 
cents) gives a complete list of books of all sorts for 
girls from twelve to twenty-one years of age. This 
book is well worth having. The writer, in his 
Leaders of Youth, also has a long list of books for 
both boys and girls. Gibson, in Boyology (Associa- 


134 The Organization and Administration 


tion Press) gives the results of a questionnaire as 
to what boys really read. This book is arranged 
by ages and is significant of the reading habits of 
boys and young men. 

8. Story-telling in the department—Before books 
were invented, their place was taken, so far as ro- 
mance and history were concerned, by the story- 
teller. For some time his place was so fully sup- 
_ planted by the printed tale that he seemed to disap- 
pear almost entirely. To-day we are in the midst of 
a revival of the story-teller’s art. We are discovering 
that not only children but adolescents love to hear 
good stories, and many love to tell them. Moreover, 
the art of the story-teller and interest in reading are 
more closely allied than was frequently believed. It 
is not hard to awaken interest in good stories and 
then to direct the attention of those already - 
skilled in the art of reading to sources where 
delightful tales may be found. Not every interme- 
diate is interested in learning how to teli'a story well; 
but, like dramatic interest, the story-telling impulse 
is far more universal than supposed. A story-tellers’ 
club among the intermediates will afford its members 
the opportunity to learn and practice theirart;and the — 
worship service, a social evening, the camp fire, and 
camps may be greatly enriched through their skill. 
Among the many books on story-telling the following 
will be found especially useful in such a club: 


How to Tell Stories to Children, Bryant. 
Education by Story-Telling, Cather. 


Of the Intermediate Department 135 





The Use of the Story in Religious Education, Eggles- 
ton. 

The Art of the Story-Teller, Shedlock. 

Stories and Story-Telling, Saint John. 

Some Great Stories and How to Tell Them, Wyche. 


Some stories not found in the above books but well 
adapted to intermediate interest are those of Haw- 
thorne. Several of Laura E. Richards’s stories are 
capital material for telling, among others ‘‘The 
Golden Windows” and ‘‘The Silver Crown.” Van 
Dyke’s stories are all good, some more usable than 
others, of course. Try those found in Zhe Blue 
Flower and The. Ruling Passion. Mrs. Gatty’s - 
Parables from Nature are serviceable to you. Brain’s 
Love Stories of Great Missionaries are usuable at the 
worship hour of the department, as is also Annie 
Fellows Johnston’s In the Desert of Waiting. 
Expecially good for intermediate girls are Keeping 
Tryst and The Three Weavers, from her Little Colonel 
Series. ‘‘Ruth’’ and Esther,” from the Bible, are 
characteristically adolescent stories. 


INTER- AND INTRADENOMINATIONAL RECREATION 


Games, athletic contests, and field days may be 
planned within the department or between the de- 
partment teams and other similar organizations in 
other churches or in the community or without. In 
the same manner, in addition to the social gatherings 
within the department, larger social groups made up 
of all the departments of the city may meet for an 
intermediate banquet or for an outdoor social. In 


136 The Organization and Administration 


rural communities such gatherings may include the 
intermediate pupils from several church schools 
widely separated. Games, contests, sports, singing, 
and ‘‘dinner on the grounds”’ should make up an 
attractive program. Camp Fire Girls may join with 
all the others in a given territory for a grand council 
fire; Boy Scouts for a district review; Girls Reserves 
will have representatives in an interclub council. 
Such gatherings tend to develop community spirit 
as well as to broaden the symapthies of all who partic- 
ipate. 
RECREATIONAL LEADERSHIP 


There is no mystery about the art of recreational 
leadership for this group. The requisites are ability 
to understand the interests of these pupils, willing- | 
ness to sacrifice time for this work, determination to 
qualify for leadership through the reading of books 
on recreation such as the Scout Manual, Camp Fire 
Girls’ Manual, and the like, and to perfect oneself in 
the actual accomplishment these programs require of 
the boys and girls. The way to begin is just to begin, 
then to continue learning by experience and by the 
aid that can be had from others through their books - 
and through such institutes, conferences, and summer 
training schools as are within reach. The pupils of 
this group are most sympathetic toward anyone who 
will try to be their friend and to help them to have a 
good time. Perhaps among pupils of-no other age is 
there found greater appreciation of efforts expended 
in recreation. Certainly few other pupils are more 


Of the Intermediate Department 7, 


ready to help. At no point in church work can a 
a minimum of effort and of intelligence and skill 
produce larger returns. But this is by no means an 
excuse for laziness in the leaders, for it should always 
be borne in mind that increased skill produces cor- 
respondingly increased results. The appended list of 
books will help any who wishes to qualify as recrea- 
tional leader: 


Social Activities for Men and Boys, Chesley. 

Games for the Playground, Home, School, and Gym- 
nastum, Bancroft. 

Camping for Boys, Gibson. 

Indoor Games for Boys, Baker. 

Ice Breakers, Geister. 

Phunology, Harbin. 

Eighty Good Times Out-of Doors, Heath. 

Play in Education, Lee. 

Leadership of Girls’ Activities; Good Times for 
Girls; Physical Health and Recreation for Girls, 
Moxcey. 

Social Evenings, Wells. 

Recreation in the Church, Gates. 

Games for Boys, Ripley. 

Health by Stunts, Pearl and Brown. 

_ At Home in the Water, Corson. 

Games, Draper. 


Almost indispensable to the leader’s library are the 
latest editions of the manuals of the following organi- 
zations: 

Boy Scout Handbook (Boy Scouts of America, 200 


Fifth Avenue, New York City). 
Christian Citizenship Training Program; Handbook 


138 The Organization and Administration 


for Pioneers, Manual for Leaders: Pioneers (In- 
ternational Council of Young Men’s Christian 
Associations, 347 Madison Avenue, New York 
City). 

The Girl Reserve Movement (Woman’s Presé 600 
Lexington Avenue, New York City). 

Scouting for. Girls (Girl Scouts, Inc., 527 Fifth 
Avenue, New York City). 

The Book of the Camp Fire Girls (Camp Fire Girls, 
31 East Seventeenth Street, New York City). 

The Woodcraft Manual ‘for Girls and for Boys 
(Woodcraft League of America, Inc., 13 West Twenty- 
Ninth Street, New York City). 

Canadian Girls in Training (National Girls’ Work 
Board, 523 Wesley Building, Toronto, Canada). 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. Why should the worker with intermediates give © 
thought to their recreational life? 
2. Why is supervised recreation of greater value 

than recreation that is not supervised? 

3. Should the class or the department provide the 
recreation program for these years? Orshould both? 
How prevent clashes between the plans of the smaller 
and the larger group? 

4. How may one become acquainted with the 
reading interests of the young? Is such knowledge 
essential to the teacher of this group? 

5. Of what use is story-telling to intermediates? 

6. Is reading a form of recreation or of work? 
What is to be done for those who do not care to read? 

7. How may one prepare himself for recreational 
leadership? What is the relative value of out- 
door and indoor recreation for boys and girls of this 
age? 


Of the Intermediate Depariment 139 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. What are the programs of recreation mapped 
out by the Boy Scouts? the Girl Scouts? the Camp 
Fire Girls? 

2. How far do the seasons determine the recrea- 
tional activities of your pupils? 

3. Can you lead in the following games: three-deep | 
tag; prisoner’s base; volley ball; basket ball; flying 
cloud; hand tennis; dodge ball? 

4. Give an outline of events for a social evening 
for the department; these should include means for 
getting acquainted, activities that will consume the 
time and mix well the various members of the de- 
partment in common games or events, “‘eats.’’ What 
decorations would you provide? 

5. Does your church need a gymnasium? Are the 
conditions of your community such that the need will 
not be met unless met by the church? Have you the 
money to provide leadership after the “‘gym”’ is 
built? How much of your recreation program can- 
not be carried on outdoors? 

6. Give the arguments for and against the forma- 
tion of a Scout Troop in your department. If you 
already have such a troop (or Camp Fire Girls), how 
far do you feel that it functions helpfully in your 
school life? How far does it fail? 


CHAPTER VIII. | 
GUIDING EXPRESSIONAL ACTIVITIES 


A FUNDAMENTAL axiom in education is that ‘‘we 
learn by doing.’’ This does not mean that we learn 
and then we do, but that doing is involved in the very 
learning process. The brain is not the only organ 
of the body involved in gaining knowledge. We do 
not learn completely until the thing learned expresses 
itself through mind or muscles or both. We learn to 
write by writing, to play the piano by playing, to 
swim by swimming. Just so we learn to be a Chris- 
tian by being a Christian, and that means acting as 
a Christian acts. How well a teacher teaches is 
not determined by how well he talks to the pupils nor 
by what he does for them; it is determined by what 
he gets them to do. What he gets them to do is of 
vastly greater importance than what he gets them to 
say, though the latter has its educational value, 
too. The great task of those responsible for church- 
school administration is to see that true education is 
given, and true education can come only through ex- - 
pression. Guiding the expressional activities of 
intermediates is a most important aspect of teaching 
them. What expressional activities shall be under- 
taken? And when? 

Two vital forms of expression have already been 
considered—worship and recreation. By participa- 

(140) 


The Intermediate Department 141 


tion in worship the pupils are trained to worship. 
The chief value of separate departmental worship is 
that it affords the pupils real participation in this 
important part of religious activity. Talks and ex- 
planations regarding worship are of small avail; only 
worshiping can help one to know what worship is 
and alone can educate one in the developing con- 
cept of worship. In so far as recreation expresses the 
codperation, friendly competition, and the desire to 
make others as well as oneself happy, it, too, expresses 
the pupil’s religious life; and recreation becomes 
thereby one of the expressional activities. More of 
the real Christian spirit of the sacrifice of self for the 
good of all, of real codperation with one’s fellows for 
the common good, can be learned upon the ball 
ground than in listening to a talk upon Christian 
codperation. 

But in this chapter we are to consider two addi- 
tional phases of expressional activities through which 
spiritual and moral progress is made. The first has 
to do with the class session; the second with mid- 
week forms of helpfulness. 


EXPRESSION IN THE CLASS HouR 


1. Geographical interest.—A teacher of a class was 
engaged in building up the life of Christ. He took 
his class out of the church school building to an open 
space and there in the sand helped them construct a 
map of Palestine on a scale of one foot to the mile. 
The points of the compass were kept. As the map 


142 The Organization and Administration 


grew, each mountain had its story, each road its 
incidents, the Sea of Galilee its treasures, Jordan its 
events, Samaria its tale by the well. As the pupils 
walked back and forth over ground now made sacred 
by the life of the Master they realized as they could 
not otherwise have done what sort of country he 
lived in, what a real life was his, and what spirit an- 
imated his brief earthly existence. The life of Christ 
was no longer an unreal bit of Bible lore, but a vital 
experience into which they themselves had entered. 

When an outdoor map is not convenient or practi- 
cable, map drawing becomes of great service. Geo- 
graphical interests are very strong during interme- 
diate years. Over the map many a lesson may receive 
better development than through a less visualized 
discussion devoid of a map. Simple outline maps are 
better than those filled with all sorts of marks and 
names. To be able to draw an outline map of the 
country under consideration is essential to good 
teaching. To get the pupils familiar with the geog- 
raphy and the topography of the land in which some 
hero lived is to make his life more vital. Such ex- 
pression helps to fix the life in mind as well as to 
give it vividness. 

2. Models—Closely akin to map making is the 
building of models. It is to be remembered how re- 
mote is the life of the Bible from our own times and 
how difficult of comprehension are the customs of 
that far-off day. To make it more realistic resort 
may be made to the construction of models of houses, 


Of the Intermediate Department 143 


implements, and costumes. Such participation by 
the pupil or pupils in making the lesson understand- 
able adds a sense of importance to the enterprise 
quite lacking where the teacher does it all. A word of 
warning should be uttered. Sometimes so much 
time is spent on the minute details of temple, imple- 
ment, or costume as to make the model the chief ob- 
ject of attention rather than the people and times 
under consideration. This exaggeration of the 
means till it becomes the end is never to be per- 
mitted. Bible costumes are not sacred because found 
in the Bible; they are but means by which we may 
better understand the living people of that day. 

3. Spoken language-——The simplest form of class 
expression is through speech. To be able to repro- 
duce for oneself what has been heard is one thing; 
to make it intelligible to the class is another; to dis- 
cuss quite a third. All, however, are forms of vocal 
expression desirable in the class. Such expression 
can come only as the mind becomes interested, the 
attention held, and opportunity given. Hence, those 
who desire to develop expression will need first of all 
to see that interest is quickened and the attention 
caught. Wedo not talk about that in which we have 
no interest. Perhaps for courtesy’s sake we feign an 
interest and talk to avoid the embarrassing silences 
that are ‘‘bad form’’; but no adolescent boy or girl is 
going to put himself long to the trouble of talking 
against time. There must be real interest if conver- 
sation is to follow. 


144 The Organization and Administration 


Failure to gain vocal expression from the class 
often comes from failure to give opportunity or en- 
couragement to talk even when interest is aroused. 
Rather than go to the additional trouble of awaken- 
ing response the teacher ‘‘does it all’’; only, of course, 
that is just what the teacher cannot really do. The 
pupil must do his part; the thinking must be his. 
By giving opportunity one does not mean simply to 
pause to see if anyone will speak. It takes much more 
tact than that to unseal self-conscious lips. In early 
adolescence we are too sensitive to making our- 
selves ridiculous to risk a possible display of our ig- 
norance. If the pupils should laugh, we would 
never open our lips again. And, more, ideas in a 
strange field, unurged and unguided, never do well up 
with great promptness. The delicate task of the 
teacher is to get the class to think and to think aloud. 
This means the use of questions that shall adroitly 
draw out the mental resources of each pupil. Dis- 
cussion is the chief teaching method in intermediate 
years, and the question is the key to oral expression. 
Good questions do not spring spontaneously to one’s 
lips but come as the result of careful preparation and 
thought. The lesson preparation that ends with 
knowledge of facts is hardly half completed; the 
other and larger half consists in planning its presen- 
tation so that thoughts shall be aroused, questions 
asked that shall open silent lips, and interesting sug- 
gestions made which demand following up. 

Debates make an attractive form of oral expres-_ 


Of the Intermediate Department 145 


sion. These require study if they are to be real tests 
of mental alertness, and their competitive form tends 
to compel the mind to think. To convince another 
is a means of bringing mental clearness to oneself. 
When the class is divided into two groups, each 
member may become a party to the discussion. Such 
procedure can succeed from the educational angle 
only if the question has been assigned in advance, 
if time limitations are carefully observed, and if the 
rules of debating are strictly adhered to. 

4. Written expression.—In addition to oral speech 
written expression should be utilized. This is the 
place for notebook work. The grammar school has 
prepared the pupils to do and to expect written work. 
The essay or theme of the high school makes writing 
familiar if not easy. To put on paper the facts de- 
sired, the outline needed, or answers to questions de- 
manding more than spontaneous thought Is to set the 
mind at work—that is, to learn by doing. In all the 
graded lessons suggestions for notebook work are 
made. Additional directions for this sort of expression 
may be invented by the teacher. Reports on special 
assignments are often the easiest means by which 
some of the pupils can be encouraged to do home 
work and to contribute to the expressive life of the 
class. 

EXPRESSION THROUGH THE WEEK 

But no expressive activities are quite complete 

that end inthe lesson hour. The lesson itself is only 


a means toanend, that end being the development of 
10 


146 The Organization and Administration 


Christian personality. For this reason more stress is 
to be placed on activities that bring the teaching 
into fruitful contact with life as lived by the pupil 
than upon the neatness of notebooks or accuracy of 
maps. We do not seek to know the Bible for itself, 
but for the light it may throw upon our lives. Pupils 
are taught in the church school not that they may 
recite perfect lessons, but that the lessons learned 
may find expression in their everyday living. Whatis 
needed is a program of activities that shall translate 
the instruction into deeds of service, helpfulness, 
kindness, brotherliness in human betterment and 
community welfare which show that we have caught 
the spirit of true yoke fellows of Christ. 

A department program may include the following 
items: . 

1. Some specific missionary enterprise, large | 
enough to enlist the entire department. | 

2. Some philanthropic enterprise in the homeland 
of a similiar magnitude. 

3. Some community enterprise of a civic rather 
than of a distinctly ecclesiastical nature. 

4, Some church enterprise. 

These four types of enterprises should be of a 
permanent character; so far as possible the depart- 
ment’s free choice after careful investigation by the 
service committee; and so spaced as to focus 
attention upon each at different times. For instance, 
suppose that the service committee, after carefully 
considering several opportunities, has decided to 


Of the Intermediate Department 147 


recommend that the department support a native 
child in India. Suppose, likewise, that the children 
of an orphanage have become of interest to this de- 
partment. In the same manner, imagine that the 
sympathy of the children has been drawn out by the 
needs of poor children in its own community who are 
in want of clothing or books to attend school. And, 
last of all, let us suppose that the church needs a 
communion set or a baptismal font. If these objects 
have been adopted by the department as worthy of 
their help, attention may be focused upon the child 
in India during the weeks preceding Easter, upon 
having the communion set or font ready to dedicate 
in June, upon the children needing books and cloth- 
ing just before the opening of school in September, 
and upon the orphanage at Christmas. 

While this permanent program commands the 
continued interest of all the members of the depart- 
ment, each class needs to work out in addition its own 
service activities, which may be of a more temporary 
character. 

The kinds of activity that the class may enter into 
are as varied as life itself. What has been attempted 
by others may be suggestive to the reader. 


1. Service for the church.—Organize a choral club 
to furnish special music for Sunday school or church. 
Help in church socials, the boys as coffee pourers, 
the girls as decorators and helpers. 

Improve the looks of the church property, cut the 
weeds, plant shrubbery, sow seed and made a lawn, 


148 The Organization and Admintstration 





fix a rickety walk or steps, and replace broken pickets 
in the fence. Put in lights or windowpanes that are 
broken out. Have an entertainment and get the 
church painted. Provide flowers for the pupils 
each Sunday. 

Distribute church advertising, thus helping the 
pastor. 

Act as ushers at the Sunday evening service. 

Serve as pastor’s messengers. 

2. Service for the Sunday school or a department.— 
Give a play, lecture course, or entertainment to buy 
new hymn books. 

Collect costumes, pictures, flags of all nations for 
decorations, and place in trunk for use of church 
school on special occasions. | 

Raise funds to send a representative to the inter- 
mediate summer camp. 

Have a birthday secretary who shall. remember 
each pupil with a card on his birthday. 

Help beginners, primary, and junior teachers with 
their social affairs. . 

Build up a Sunday-school library; contribute a 
good book and get others to do the same; raise money 
to buy books; havea “‘book night’’and ask every one 
to bring a good book. 

Report to pastor and the superintendent newcom- 
ers who should belong to other departments. 

Make cupboards, tables, etc., not already provided 
for your department. 

Assist the Home Department and the Cradle Roll. 

3. Service for class——Keep a class stunt book in 
which to preserve kodak pictures and souvenirs. 

Get speakers to present different vocations to the 
class. } 
Follow up absentees. Mail a card and visit them. 
Get them back to Sunday school at once. 


Of the Intermediate Department 149 





Find newcomers and invite them to the school. 
Go after them. Send a committee and let them 
know that you really want them. 

Have a lookout social for newcomers. 

4, Relieving physical need.—Provide a week in the 
country for a city boy or girl. 

Make sheets, pillow slips, and simple garments for 
a children’s ward ina city hospital. 

Make surprise bags, bedroom slippers, and scrap- 
books for children’s ward and day nurseries. 

Make jelly or grape juice for hospital or orphanage. 

Gather eggs for the old people’s home. 

Ask the associated charities for a needy case that 
you may aid. 

Find used baby carriages for needy families. 

Help old folks of the neighborhood by chopping 
their wood, carrying coal, raking leaves, shoveling 
walks, carrying groceries and water. 

Care for a baby for an hour so that a mother can 
get some real rest. 

5. Providing for social and spiritual needs —Learn 
memory hymns and sing them Sunday afternoon at 
the old people’s home. 

Sing Christmas carols and use gifts for worthy 
cause. 

Serenade the church-school teachers on New Year’s 
night. | 

Hold an old folks’ social, bringing the old people to 
the church. 

Make a church tennis court for the use of the young 
people. - : 

Have an athletic exhibition asking friends to enjoy 
it: i 
Have a Be-Square Club. 

Invite a child from foreign quarters or from the 


150 The Organization and Administration 


mill district to a home for Thanksgiving or Christ- 
mas. 

Give socials, parties, and hikes for pupils from 
other church schools and for those outside of Sune ay 
school. 

Provide a scholarship for a boy or girl in a moun- 
tain school. 

On Old Folks’ Day provide rocking-chairs, pillows, 
etc., for the aged. Send for the old people, place 
them well in front in the church, and take them home 
in cars. 

Get up a letter or post-card shower for the sick or 
shut-ins. 

Visit shut-ins and sing or read to them. 

Read to the blind. 

Conduct a children’s story hour and help them to 
dramatize the stories. 

6. Misstons.—Have a Japanese tea, _ ! 

Plan the missionary features for the year at one 
time so that pictures and clippings may be accu- 
mulated. 

Look out for returned missionaries and get them to 
speak at the worship service. 

Carry on aregular correspondence with the boy or 
girl your department is supporting in the mission field. 

Make gifts for the leper missions. 

Dramatize incidents in the life of Livingstone or 
other missionaries. vipa 

Have members in costume read stories, essays, or 
impersonate missionaries telling ‘‘ what I did.” 

Send Christmas, Easter, and other post cards to 
the mission field. 

Raise vegetables, sell them, and use the money for » 
missionary gifts. 

Collect waste paper, sell, and use money in same 
way. 


Of the Intermediate Department 151 





7. Civic interests and community welfare.—Distrib - 
ute seeds and bulbs among children who could not 
otherwise have them. Give a prize for the best- 
looking yard. 

Observe clean-up week, Ivy Day, Arbor Day. 

Crusade for clean athletics. 

Pick up stray papers and so keep the streets clean. 

Organize a junior police and so train in civic mat- 
ters: 

CLASS OR DEPARTMENT? 


As the class is the real unit of social organization 
in the Intermediate Department, it is well for each 
teacher to develop high efficiency in service within his 
group. Each class will have its own service com- 
mittee intrusted with the task of discovering objects 
needing service and methods of assisting individuals 
or causes. The duty of assigning individuals or 
groups or members to the fulfillment of each serv- 
ice contemplated also belongs to this committee. 
The order should be such that no member is over- 
looked in the assignments of the year. 

But the carrying out of many forms of service de- 
mands more helpers than any one class can furnish. 
For this reason the department also has its service 
committee, which should function in the department 
just as the like committee functions in the class. A 
program of service for the entire year, taking into 
consideration what each class is doing as a class, 
should be formulated for the department. Into this 
larger program each class and each pupil should be 
fitted so that all may participate. Worship and 


152 The Organization and Administration 


_ 


- service are planned for the entire department, while 
instruction and recreation should be activities devel- 
oped largely by the classes. By all means sponta- 
neous service should be encouraged and deeds of real 
helpfulness should be fully recognized and honored. 


THE FINAL PURPOSE 


The real purpose running through all schemes of 
service should never be lost sight of. This is not to 
be able to make favorable reports of moneys raised 
or of aid given; it is that habits of observation may be 
formed, that sympathy may be developed, that hab- 
its of helpfulness may be established, and that meth- 
ods of human coéperation may become familiar. 
Real help must be given if these ends are to be met. 
Spontaneity must be developed. Sympathies, in- 
telligent as well as intense, must flow freely and read- | 
ily. Willingness to lend a hand, with others and for 
others, must become habitual, not exceptional. The 
success of the service activities is measured not by. 
their number or extent but by the pupils’ growth in 
character, Christlike in love, and ready to help. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. What other forms of expressional activity be- 
sides worship and recreation may intermediates 
undertake? 3 

2. How may one develop the lesson ‘‘over the = 
map’’? Illustrate from the story of Jacob’s journey 
to his uncle Laban’s home. 

3. What is meant by the discussion method? bids 
is preparation essential to discussion? 


Of the Intermediate Department 153 


4, What value is there in having written work done 
by the pupils? What forms do you advise for inter- 
mediate pupils? 

5. Whatis meant by service activities? What serv- 
ice activities has your class undertaken during the 
past year? 

6. What is meant by “no impression without ex- 
pression,’’ and by ‘“‘learning by doing’’? Illustrate. 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. Of the following forms of expressional activity 
which do you consider the most important and why: 
reciting in the class; worship; recreation; service to 
others? In which do we most clearly ‘‘ put the lesson 
into life?”’ 

2. Is knowing the characteristics of the Old and the 
New Testament heroes certain to affect the pupil’s 
daily living? How would you suggest that these char- 
acteristics may become possessions of the pupil’s 
own character? 

3. What value lies in learning Old Testament 
geography? Is it any more religious than the geo- 
graphical study of your native State? Why encourage 
map drawing in the church school? 

4. What is the difference between a fact question 
and a thought question? Illustrate. Which leads 
more probably to discussion in the class? Why? 

5. Is class discussion a means or an end? Give 
reasons for your answer. 

6. Check over the list of things to do found in this 
chapter. How many of them are possible forms of 
service in your community? 

7. What help, aside from that of attending church, 
has the pastor or other church official asked of the 
intermediate group of your church school? Make 
sure that you know what has been asked. 


CHAPTER IX 
GUIDES TO LIFE INVESTMENT 


THE purpose of this chapter is to indicate the re- 
sponsibility of leaders of early adolescent pupils to 
act as guides to the wisest investment of their pupils’ 
lives; and, further, to show how such guidance 
may best be undertaken. This whole subject is 
popularly known as ‘vocational guidance,” a 
sufficient term if we keep in mind the broad definition 
of vocation as any life work, whether financially 
remunerative or not. The idea of vocational guidance 
as some scheme by which the young may be 
directed into certain industrial channels is too nar- 
row. The narrower meaning has arisen from the: 
necessity that is felt to guide into some suitable and 
worthy money-making channel the children who 
must early push out to support themselves and per- 
haps must help support a family; but there is nothing 
in the word ‘‘vocation”’ thus to restrict it, and every- 
thing to warrant the broader usage. 

We are concerned not with any particular ey 
stratum, but with the broad problem of helping pupils 
find themselves in this world, which is primarily a 
world of work, of purposive endeavor. Sometimes 
unconsciously, but always surely, these boys and 
girls are laying the foundatons for their later ability 
to handle themselves in that world of work. Their 

(154) 


The Intermediate Depariment 2 155 


future happiness, and not less their future character 
development, is to be determined by whether they 
are ready to shoulder a real job and carry it or 
whether in a world of accomplishment they shall fail 
and in their failure shall find their worthy ambitions 
falter and failtoo. If they shall drift intoan occupa- 
tion for which they are not prepared or for which 
they have no natural aptitudes or which ends in a 
blind alley, with no outlet for future endeavor; or, if 
unprepared, they wander from position to position 
with no settled purpose, not only will their happiness 
be forfeited, but their powers of self-development will 
be nullified. On the other hand, if they discover the 
place in the world of work that offers a future worth 
striving for, one for which they are well prepared, 
and in which, happily settled, their very best shall 
come out, then indeed we may be well assured of 
their happiness and moral progress. 


FATAL OPTIMISM 


There is an almost fatalistic tendency in American 
life to believe that, left alone, our young life will 
“find itself.’”’ We point with pride to self-made men 
and women who with little or no preparation or 
guidance have ‘‘landed on their feet’’ in the business 
or professional world. We congratulate ourselves 
with the thought that men have arisen from log 
cabin to White: House. We have had good grounds 
for such optimistic reasoning. But we have ignored 
too willingly the failures that have accompanied 


156 The Organization and Administration 


these meteoric careers. We have been willing to 
believe that the average is up to the exceptional. 
We have forgotten to notice all around us men and 
women who might have made good had they had 
better preparation or better guidance in the choice of 
life’s tasks; and we have further neglected to notice 
that with the advance of the frontier line in our Amer- 
ica the conventionalizing of life has gone on apace. 
Moreover, with the development of modern ma- 
chinery and modern ways of doing business it takes 
more preparation to succeed, even from the purely 
mercenary viewpoint, than hitherto. . The general 
level of intelligence has arisen, and with it the de- 
mands of the working world for preparation and 
efficiency. It behooves us to consider how essential 
preparation has become and how increasingly diffi- 
cult it grows to find the right place to work in. 


THE FUNCTION OF THE CHURCH SCHOOL IN VOCA- 
TIONAL GUIDANCE 


At first thought it may seem that the church school 
has no responsibility for the vocational guidance of 
its pupils; but, both in the broader and in the narrow- 
er sense, it has a very definite task. Notwithstanding 
the interest parents take in the success of their 
children, few homes are doing much along this line. 
Sometimes because of absorption in the duty of car- 
ing for the family, sometimesbecause of ignorance,; 
the boy’s or the girl’s future is' left to chance and tiie 
kindly offices of a good providence. In the larger 


Of the Intermediate Department 157 


cities the public schools are endeavoring to grapple 
with vocational guidance, but in many of our smaller 
communities nothing is done. The rural districts, 
aside from some semitechnical teaching of agriculture 
in a few schools, are destitute of any work of this sort. 
In most of our church schools, therefore, neglect by 
others forces this task upon us; while in those places 
where the task has been undertaken by some other 
organization, there is still room for our codperation. 
Expecially is this true if we believe that the choice of 
a life task should not be settled on the basis of selfish 
interests alone. If in our pupils’ choices altruism is 
to be the dominant note, if we are to hope that the 
consideration of most weight is to be what a voca- 
tion will mean to the welfare of the world, not what 
the one entering upon it may get for himself, then 
religion and the organizations of religion have a 
large part to play in vocational guidance. For at no 
other age is one so susceptible to an appeal to self- 
sacrifice and to the heroic as during the adolescent 
years. Then is when we discover the joy of living for 
and, if need be, dying for the good of the group or of 
the needy within the brotherhood of man. 

Another reason why the church school should con- 
cern itself with vocational guidance is that just at 
these years the pupils are leaving public school for 
business life. School attendance above fourteen 
years of age is required in few States. Choices are 
being made as economic necessity or personal whim 
dictates, The school can no longer act as guide, 


158 The Organization and Administration 
The home, as has been said, frequently cannot. 
Hence, it is the school of the church that can exercise 
a guiding hand in the future welfare of these pupils. 
If the church school has its plans for vocational 
guidance in just these decisive years well laid and its 
program in operation it may be able to save many 
a wrong investment of time and labor, it may dis- 
cover for its pupils their own capacities, and it may 
direct them to useful further training. If religion is 
not something added to life but is life itself at its 
best, then the church school can well afford to 
turn its attention to that large part of life and its 
adjustments which makes up manhood and woman- 
hood, the life of strenuous endeavor in a world 
of work. 


ADMINISTERING DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES FOR VOCA- 
TIONAL GUIDANCE 


The first step for organizing the department for 
vocational guidance lies in the establishment of 
right attitudes toward all work. This is trite, but no 
less true. If the teaching force echoes the plati- 
tudinous sentiment of ‘‘work because we have to” 
and ‘‘I’m doing it to make a living,” the pupils will - 
be quick to catch the accent, and every effort toward 
vocational guidance will be pitched on the plane of 
self-aggrandizement. Work will be looked on as a 
thing to be avoided, and the easy berths will be 
sought by all. It need hardly be said that this is a 
totally unchristian view, impossible to find in a 


Of the Intermediate Department 159 


thoroughly Christian organization; yet it is so preva- 
lent even among those of us who are partially Chris- 
tianized that a word of warning is still in order. 

If, on the contrary, we uphold the Christian view 
that life affords us the supreme privilege of service 
to our fellow men, and that one’s vocation is the 
medium through which one can best render that 
service, we shall have taken the preliminary step 
toward vocational guidance. At this age the pupils 
will be influenced more by our attitudes than by our 
words. Hence, every teacher of early adolescents 
should reveal to his class the joy he finds in doing his 
life’s task well and the satisfaction that comes from 
being skillful in his own field. If his vocation is not 
yielding him a life vastly bigger than his living, he 
may well question how far he is yet thoroughly 
Christian, or, if thoroughly Christian, whether he 
himself is rightly placed so as to contribute the best 
to those about him. A miser, we need to remind our- 
selves again and again, need not be a millionaire, nor 
a worshiper of mammona worldly man. If this point 
is well fixed, not alone in our minds but in our atti- 
tudes toward our daily work, it will inevitably be- 
come perceptible in our contacts with the growing 
minds about us. 

In addition to this attitude the department owes 
it to its pupils to see that they become familiar with 
a large number of possible investments for their lives, 
The poor choices made by the young are not infre- 
quently due to poverty of knowledge. Here is the 


160 The Organizaiion and Administration 


boyhood friend of the writer who was twenty-five 
before he determined upon a medical career. Noone, 
so far as is known, had ever taken the pains to make 
clear to this growing youth the possibilities of that 
career, its opportunities for service, its financial © 
returns, its demands for skill, or the personal qualifi- 
cations that go to make up the successful physician; 
yet he lived not in the country but in the city, where 
many physicians practiced their profession. Had 
anyone taken the time to explain, his remarkable 
career ending in the early forties might have been 
extended backward toward his youth. He simply 
did not know. His home, abundantly able to provide 
for his professional training, had no means to guide 
him in his choice. The schools were not awake to 
their responsibilties, and the church schools had 
never dreamed of vocational guidance as part of the 
duty of religion. 

It is not enough that pupils see men and women 
daily active in the various walks of life. These pro- 
fessions and trades are sealed to the inquiring eyes of 
youth, not from desire on either side, but from in- 
ability to find a point of contact. Some way must be 
found to inform our pupils, what each vocation 
means, what its work consists in, what skills it calls 
for, what personal and financial returns it offers, and, 
above all, what value it had in the life of the world. 
Out of the abundance of such possibilities the young 
may choose more wisely than out of the paucity of 
vocations now known to them. Often only one 


Of the Intermediate Department 161 


choice is open, and that the choice of the parents. 
Wider knowledge gives a background for choice and 
should be the possession of all the group. 

Four means of obtaining such knowledge are easily 
available. First of all is to make some of the hikes 
contribute to this end by visiting various places 
where the world’s work is going on. These visits to 
industrial plants, to professional offices, to commu- 
nity projects, will make possible further discussion 
of their desirability as places for lifeinvestment. Not 
only so, but these visits afford the teachera means of 
estimating interests and abilitiesin his pupils which 
will pave the way for more personal guidance. 
Such visits are best made, not by the entire depart- 
ment, but by each class, that teacher and pupils to- 
gether may make their own discoveries. 

A second means is to bring to the department from 
time to time men and women who shall represent 
various vocations and who are able to describe what 
is required in each and what is the happiness derived 
from their work. Such talks will reveal much to these 
pupils who would hesitate to interrupt the busy man 
to ask personally what he is doing, what joy he gets 
out of it, and what chance there is for the young in 
the same field. Sometimes it will be well to make 
such talks part of the devotional service, but it is far 
more effective to have them at the social gatherings 
when time may be had for asking questions. Fur- 
ther, it may be found better for the class to ask the 
speaker for its social gathering rather than for 

11 


162 The Organization and Admintstration 


eateeeneneeeetieel 


the department to meet them together. The intima- 
cy of the class may furnish a better opportunity for 
questioning and dicussion. 

A third means of informing the young of various 
vocations is through books suggested by the teacher. 
Fortunately the number of such books is increasing. 
Some of these are listed at the close of this chapter; 
others must be discovered as they come from the 
presses. Catalogues of books for public school use 
should be followed carefully by those who wish to 
keep informed as to the new publications in this field. 

A fourth means of helping these boys and girls is 
to give them actual practice, so that they may dis- 
cover their natural bent No intermediate pupil is 
prepared to practice medicine; but courses in first aid 
furnish a basis for discovering one’s interest in anat- 
omy, physiology, and simple immediate emergency 
practice. No boy is yet ready to take up law; but a_ 
debating club may open his eyes to the possibility of 
argumentation, and mock trials may show him some 
of the interesting features of court procedure. Me- 
chanics is an attractive subject for many youths, and 
skill in it need not wait until maturity. These earlier 
attempts will soon show how far the boy is mechani- 
cally minded. Chemistry need not wait for the days 
of college. Here, too, a discovery of interests may 
be made. 3 

Much of our school education is based upon the 
cultural idea rather than upon the attainment of 
skill of hand and eye. Only of recent date has large 


Of the Intermediate Departmen 163 





addition been made to the curriculum of the schools 
in behalf of manual training, domestic science, and 
in the rural schools, agriculture. Now, as a consider- 
able part of the world’s work must be wrought out by 
hand as well as by brain, every particle of such train- 
ing is helpful in finding one’s place in the world’s work. 
Not so much for future efficiency are such subjects 
valuable but as a means of real educational develop- 
ment. Here is a natural point of contact capable 
of large development. It does connect with the later 
life task of most of the pupils. 

Further, the spare time engagements of many boys 
and some girls may give opportunity for discovering 
their bent. While it is not desirable that these 
young people should be led away from school at this 
early age but should rather be encouraged to finish 
high school and, if possible, college, many do take up 
some gainful form of leisure-time occupation. Here 
is offered another opportunity to learn by actual par- 
ticipation much of business life, of buying and selling, 
of office work, of newspaper life, of factory methods. 
These broader contacts give the immature greater 
ability to adjust themselves to the world of labor. 

Now, all that has been written points to two con- 
clusions: First, in these various ways the pupil him- 
self is furnished some opportunity to discover his own 
likes and dislikes, his own interests and capacities. 
Secondly, the teacher is able, as he follows his pupils, 
to judge somewhat of the probable trend of their 
various awakening interests. Upon the basis of this 


164 The Organization and Administration 
experimental introduction into active life advice is 
possible, and aid can be extended which shall mean 
much in guiding the young into happy, permanent 
life work. y a 

As to those whose full time is already engaged in 
gainful occupations something will be said later. 


INDIVIDUAL GUIDANCE IN PROFESSIONAL CHOICES 


Guiding the pupils into places for life investment, 
however, can never end with such group activities. 
Something must be done for each individual pupil for 
the sufficient reason that each pupil is a problem all 
by himself, and his selection of a life occupation can 
be made only in the light of his own background of 
experience, education, training, aptitudes, and oppor- 
tunities. Economic pressure may compel a selection 
that under other conditions would not be made. So 
the teacher will need to take up the case of each pupil 
by itself. 

His study should begin with the family. Here he 
should be able to discover the family interest in the 
pupil’s future, their ability to help in further training, 
and their willingness to render such assistance. Their 
attitude toward the various industries, trades, call- 
ings, and professions are also ascertainable, together 
with their general feeling toward work itself. If here 
is found sympathetic interest in the future of their 
boy or girl and willingness to sacrifice for it, a far 
different course will follow than in case they are‘un- 
able to see further than the next dollar that can be 


Of the Intermediate Department 165 
earned or the next job that may be secured. If their 
whole philosophy of life is to get all that one can, 
spend all that one can, and be as selfish as one can, the 
task before him who would guide the son or daughter 
of that family is quite different from his course with a 
boy or girl from a prudent, fore-thoughted, unselfish 
family. Also, if there is found high appreciation of 
the value of preparation for life’s activities, there will 
be an open way to the consideration of the pupil’s | 
future training; if not, the reverse will be true. All 
these facts will have a decided bearing upon how the 
teacher proceeds to guide his pupil in the latter’s 
choice. 

Facts about the home life of each pupil serve the 
teacher many useful ends aside from that of voca- 
tional guidance, but this end alone is sufficient to 
warrant a careful investigation into home conditions. 
The facts here found should be kept in writing for 
future reference. Our memories are faulty at best, 
and some day exact knowledge may save us from giv- 
ing wrong directions. 

The next step in the personal investigation of each 
pupil consists in a careful estimate of his capacities 
and aptitudes. As guides to such study Professor J. 
B. Davis has listed a series of questions in his Voca- 
tional and Moral Guidance which Richardson and 
Loomis, in The Boy Scout Movement as Applied to the 
Church (pages 354-56) have rewritten in the following 
fashion: 


166 


The Organization and Administration 





OONNA ME WN 


wal’ 7 


. Where was he born? 
. Does he live at home? 
. If not, why not? 
. Is his father living? 
His occupation? 
. Are there any hereditary diseases in the family? 
. Does he take regular physical exercise? 
. Is he interested in sports? 
In what does he take part? 
. How much schooling has he had? 
. What are his favorite studies? 
. In what studies is he weak? 
. What kind of reading has he done? 
. What line of reading is he following? 
. What is his hobby? 


Does his mind concentrate or skip about? 
Can he plan well and carry out his plan, 


weighing the consequences ahead of time? 


18. 


Does he work best when his work is direct- 


ed by others? 


18°) 


20. 
ZL: 
Le 
o- 
24. 
20: 
26. 
Qt 


Has he self-confidence? 

Has he patience? 

Is he inclined to be lazy? 
Does he act impulsively: 
Does he make friends easily? 
Is he fond of company? 

Is he sensitive? 

Is he inclined to think himself misunderstood? © 
Is he most interested in things—machinery, 


tools—or in men? or in ideas? 


28. 
29. 


Does he enjoy business—buying and selling? 
Does he find himself assuming a position of 


leadership among his fellows in work or recreation? 
30. Can he remember things well and for a cdn- 
siderable length of time? 


A Of the Intermediate Department 167 


31. Does he remember people—names and 
faces? 

32. Is he persevering? 

33. How does he spend any leisure time he 


34. Do you consider him absolutely honest? 

35. Is he trustworthy? 

36. Is he conscientious? 

37. What is his religion? 

38. Is he a church member? 

39. Is he engaged in any church activity? 

40. Can he save money? 

41. What special ability has he? (1) mental; (2) 
physical; (3) will power. 

42. What limitations or defect has he? 

43. What is his greatest ambition? 

44. What life work does he prefer? 

45. What tratning or special fitness has he had for 
this work? 

46. Is he willing to pay the price in hard work to 
attain success? 


This list of questions, while exceedingly suggestive, 
is not exhaustive and should be used asa guide only. 
These are not to be used as a questionnaire to be filled 
out by the pupil but as helps to the teacher in his 
search. Such an investigation should put the teacher 
in possession of all the knowledge necessary for in- 
telligent and sympathetic codperation with the 
pupil in selecting and training for a place in life. 
Reliance in getting such information should never be 
placed entirely upon one’s own personal interview 
with the pupil under consideration. His teachers in 
the public school should be sought out, and their 


168 The Organization and Administration 


opinions obtained. His parents’ opinions have great 
weight. If he has been employed, those for whom he 
has worked should be consulted. If he has belonged 
to the Boy Scouts, or she to the Camp Fire Girls or 
Girl Scouts, the leader in each case may throw needed 
light upon the investigation. 

Finally, the pupil himself should be consulted di- 
rectly as to his own ideas for the future. This cannot 
be done without tact but it can be done naturally by 
one who will get into the pupil’s confidence. Here it 
is not enough to discover what is now in the pupil. If 
immediate placement in some field were the end in 
view, perhaps one could readily stop there; but the 
church owes more to its young than that. Perhaps 
ambition needs arousing, possibly direction toward — 
new interests needs to be given, perhaps steadiness 
needs to be cultivated looking toward future employ- 
ment. Whatever it isin which the pupil is short, this 
is the field in which the wise and helpful teacher will 
direct his energies toward bringing the pupil up to 
the average or a litle beyond. 

_ In this personal discussion will come to light the 
desires of the boy’s or girl’s heart, and here will be | 
found opportunity to advise, encourage and help. 
Perhaps ignorance of how to go about training fora 
special task or where to get it will demand specific 
advice. Perhaps some means of obtaining funds for 
further training must be sought. Possibly the con- 
sent of parents to enter some line of work will be the 
first step toward their life choice. Whatever the 


Of the Intermediate Deparimeni 169 


need, the teacher should be in a position to throw him- 
self into the task of helping the youth meet that need. 


HELPING IN TRAINING FOR LIFE’S TASK 


Furnishing knowledge of how and where to get 
training for one’s task is possible to department 
leaders who have pursued the foregoing course. They 
will possess themselves of catalogues of schools and 
colleges that furnish training; they will be in touch 
with correspondence schools; they will seek to know 
the industrial life of their own communities, to know 
where boys and girls can be placed so as to acquire 
immediate and adequate training for future useful- 
ness. With this information on hand and ready for 
use the teacher will be to those who seek guidance a 
friend possessed of both knowledge and wisdom. 
More boys and girls would go to the colleges and get 
the requisiste education to place themselves if they 
only knew that certain coveted vocations must have 
a college training as a prerequisite and if they knew 
the steps necessary to get into the schools. In this 
day of school facilitiesit may seem strange to say that 
our own boys and girls do not know how to go to 
college. But college is a mysterious place, and the 
ways thither are strange and devious to the unknow- 
ing. Hence, a friend who has been or who can point 
clearly the way as well as the need is of great help. 
Particular training in the various trades may be 
greatly facilitated and improved by the aid of the 
many correspondence courses in use to-day. Such 


170 The Organization and Administration 


training is no longer experimental; it has passed that 
point. 

On beyond the need of guidance in choosing a voca- 
tion is the need of guiding the young to prepare them- 
selves for their chosen calling. Guidance and encour- 
agement at this age are both needed; it is doubtful 
which is the greater need. | 


PLACING INTERMEDIATES'‘IN POSITIONS 


While the church school can hardly act as a placing 
bureau, it can do some worthy work at this point. 
The adult members of the department are not infre- 
quently in business and have business associates and 
acquaintances whose good offices may be secured. 
With exact information as to the characteristics of 
each pupil, if economic need arises for immediate 
employment, the teacher or his associates should be 
in position to render valuable help and advice. This 
is actually being done in an unorganized way in many 
schools to-day. What is needed is a more careful and 
more systematic handling of the whole matter. A 
boy or a girl looking for a job may drop by favorable 
accident into the sort of position he seeks; the chances 
are equal. that he will fall upon some opening un- 
satisfactory and most uncongenial or for which he is 
poorly fitted. These misfits and blunderingscan be re- 
duced to the advantage of the employeras well as to the 
employed by the judicious endeavors of the workers in 
the church school—if always, they have taken the 
trouble to know their pupils from the vocational angle. 


Of the Intermediate Department 171 


FoLLow-Urp WorK 


Last of all, if the largest results are to be obtained, 
it is necessary to follow up the members of the school. 
To watch the growing life of the young is always 
pleasant tothe sympathetic observer, but it becomes 
doubly interesting when that person’s success lies 
partially in the hands of the observer. Blunders we 
are any of us likely to make, but they need not spoil 
a career. The encouragement offered in season, the 
advice rendered just at the necessary moment, the 
consciousness that some one older is tremendously 
interested in one’s future—all stimulate one todo his 
best. Maladjustments may arise in spite of the best 
intention; then the only course is a rapid but wise 
change that shall preserve the pupil ’s enthusiasm and 
desire to make good. These are the ways by which 
the school may prevent the wastage that comes from 
the lack of a friend and adviser at the critical points 
in one’s career. 


RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP 


In this whole process it should never be lost sight of 
that among the many pupils passing through the 
church schools are those who are to be the future 
guides and leaders in the affairs of the church itself. 
The church has the responsibility for presenting the 
vocations that call for self-sacrifice but which have 
their rich rewards—the work of the ministry, the 
missionary’s task, both at home and abroad, and the 
whole-time worker in the various fields of religious 


172 The Organization and Administration 


education and social service. The demands to do the 
tasks of the world in one field or another are of equal 
importance, and all are equally sacred; but if the 
church neglects its future leadership it has none to 
condemn but itself. Life decision, again let it be 
said, should never be placed by the church on the 
level of money getting, fame, or any other selfish 
basis. And when the call to life investment is made in 
terms of service and sacrifice, the church will get its 
own proportion of the young life for the sustenance 
and continuanceof its work. 


QuESTIONS for REVIEW 


1. What responsibility has the church school in the 
subject of vocational guidance? 

2. What are some of the things it may do to aid 
the young to determine their future careers? 

3. How may a wide range of possible choices for 
life investment be brought to the attention of inter- 
mediate boys and girls? 

4. What follow-up work should be undertaken in 
behalf of those beginning their business careers? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. Choose a boy or girl of intermediate years and 
discover what he or she has in mind as to the future. 
Seek to know the basis of the desire; for instance, is 
it wealth, interest, or ease with which the person 
may obtain employment in that particular field? 
One such careful investigation will reveal more than 
a superficial examination of several cases. 

2. A girl asked an older friend if she could follow 
art asa life work and still be a Christian. What 
would you have told her? 


Of the Intermediate Department 173 


3. A boy slipped into a grocery job during the 
vacation period and found the work congenial. He 
stayed with the concern instead of returning to school. 
How do you feel about this case: first, as to thus 
shortening his education; and, secondly, as to his 
satisfaction in this rather humble position? Could 
the Intermediate Department have had a responsi- 
bibility in the matter? 

4, What is meant by the word ‘‘humble’’ in the 
foregoing question? Does this betray an attitude 
toward manual labor that is thoroughly Christian? 
What is a fair standard for judging the merits of a 
position? 

5. A man now in the forties was early impressed 
with the opportunities for service in the ministry. He 
was compelled, however, because of financial reasons, 
to leave school and go to work. He is now a small 
farmer giving as much time as possible to volunteer 
church work. What would the following suggestions 
have contributed to his thinking and possibly to his 
conduct: a chance to earn his Way through high 
school; the possibility of earning his way through 
college: a scholarship, to be repaid later, in some good 
college; relief for the parents, which would have en- 
abled them to send their boy through school? 

6. Is playing with mechancial things a clear indi- 
cation that one likes mechanics and should make this 
a life work? Is success in amateur dramatics a sign 
that a boy or girl should choose the stage as a career? 
What other factors enter into the choice of a career 
besides interest in it? 


Books ON VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE 


Babson, Roger W.: The Future of Us Boys. Bos- 
ton, 1915. 


174 Organization and Administration 





Bloomfield, Myers: The Vocational Guidance of 
Youth. Boston, 1909. 

Fowler, Nathaniel C., Jr.: The Boy—How to Help 
Him to Succeed. Boston, 1902. va 

Parsons, Frank: Choosing a Vocation. Boston, 
1909. 

Weaver, E. W.: Profitable Vocations for Boys. 
New York, 1915. 


CHAPTER X 


LEADERSHIP AND TRAINING IN CHURCH AND CoM- 
MUNITY ACTIVITIES 


Upon the parents devolves the responsibility of 
training their young in those activities that make up 
family life. Their leadership in these matters may 
be improved by the church. Parents’ classes are 
organized that parents may become more efficient 
leaders of their offspring. Upon the teachers of the 
public schools, likewise, is placed the responsibility 
for leadership in school activities, and to them we 
must look for training in the activities that make up 
school life. 

In the socializing processes that are going on both 
home and school feel some responsibility for leader- 
ship and training incommunity activities. How much 
is being done at this point can be determined only by 
a study of each home and of each school. Where 
social interest runs high and social education has 
been pushed forward both institutions become con- 
tributors tocommunity welfare through the example 
they set and the training they give in community 
living. Many homes and a considerable number of 
public schools are glad to lead youths into active par- 
ticipation in their own group and in the community 
life, thus making them sharers of responsibility and 
of the joys of accomplishment that adults expe- 
rience. 


(175) 


176 The Organization and Administration 


In like manner the church school has its duty first 
to train its pupils in the life of the church; then, to 
lead them to participate intelligently and actively in 
the affairs of the community. First let usinquire how 
these duties devolve upon the church school and then 
discover some ways in which they may be dis- 
charged. | 


THE NECESSITY OF LEADERSHIP TRAINING 


/The perpetuation of the life of the church—its. 
organization and management, its support, and its 
future expansion, numerical, intellectual, and spirit- 
ual—is determined by the ability of the rising genera- 
tion to cope with new situations and with its willing- 
ness to put forth effort to that end. The life of the 
organized church might conceivably be brought to a 
speedy close if every one now under thirty years of age 
refused to assume any responsibility for its per- 
petuation, or if each were hopelessly incapable of 
doing his part therein. Church buildings would 
soon decay or become diverted to other uses. Knowl- 
edge and skill already acquired in Christian living 
might conceivably vanish from the face of the earth. 
The present genertion has it in its power to end the 
propagation of the gospel if it so desires. It can 
turn its attention to disqualifying the rising generation 
for participation in the future work of the institution; 
and with experience and knowledge gone the institu- 
tion would vanish also. If the organized church hasa 
contribution to make to world progress and preserva- 


Of the Intermediate Department 177 


tion, if it is to act as saving salt, that can become 
possible only as this generation actually engages the 
interest, trains the minds, develops the skill, succeeds 
in incorporating into itself the life of the youth of 
to-day. Obviously the church owes the world the 
training of its young in church activities so that con- 
trol, guidance, and enlargement of the institution 
shall be assured to future generations. 

As has already been noticed, the home and the 
school each have obligations to train the young in 
community activity—the first because its own per- 
petuation and happiness depend on the sort of com- 
munity that shall be built up; and the second be- 
cause, as the servant of the community, it should help 
the community to continue at its best. But the 
community is dependent for its ideals in large part 
on the forces of religion. The church is never an end, 
and church membership is never a mere refuge. The — 
task of the church is to Christianize the community. 
This can be done only as its membership participates 
in the community life, shaping its thought and its 
actions according to the Christian ideal. ‘The 
_church,”’ as such, can never do this; it is only the mem- 
bers of the church. If.these members are to exert 
their influence in any significant way it will be by 
actual, intelligent participation in the community 
movements, enterprises, and activities. ' 

Such activity on the part of the church members 
is not likely to arise if a sense of community respon- 
sibility is not early developed. Nay, more, if the 

12 


178 The Organization and Administration 








boys and girls are not actually set at community 
tasks, taught how to participate in community 
activities and made to feel the religious significance 
of living among one’s fellows and the responsibility it 
entails, religion will remain detached from plain re- 
sponsibility to the community. Hence it is that 
thoroughly to Christianize their own pupils and thor- 
oughly to Christianize the community are alike 
dependent on the church’s leadership and training of 
its pupils in community activities. 


PARTICIPATION IN CHURCH LIFE 


The first steps in church activity should have been 
taken before early adolescence is reached. Habits of 
church attendance, contributions to the church, and 
intelligent participation in missionary and service 
activities should be already formed. The church 
school is the church organized to teach. But with the 
coming .of the teen years voluntary personal incor- 
poration in the life of the church organization be- 
comes natural and desired. Church fellowship, 
which with the well-trained pupil should already 
have become a growing experience, should now be 
acknowledged by a definite pledge of loyalty to the 
institution and to participation in its activities. The 
church school is the church organized to teach, and 
participation in the church school has been training 
in church membership. Now, upon the Intermediate 
and Senior Departments rests the obligation of 
calling the attention of their pupils to the fact that 


Of the Intermediate Department 179 





they are of years to enlarge their fellowship with 
others who are loyal to the ideals and standards of 
Jesus Christ, and declare their definite intention of 
continuing that fellowship. These declarations of 
the intention of the pupil constitute a public accept- 
ance of Jesus as Saviour and Lord and a renewal of 
the pledges their parents have already made for them. 
Whether baptized or unbaptized they have, if rightly 
trained, already passed through many stages of their 
progress toward mature Christian experience. Fur- 
ther training in church membership is given in the 
‘graded courses. 


INTENSIFYING CHURCH LOYALTY 


The Intermediate Department, however, should 
now do what has heretofore too frequently been neg- 
lected—namely, train the pupils in large participa- 
tion in the active life of the church. Much of this 
training will come strictly within the life of the de- 
partment; for as we should remind ourselves again, 
it is a part of the church at work, not something in 
addition to the church. Loyalty to the department 
is loyalty to the church, and activity in and for the 
department is activity in and for the church. But 
if the larger responsibilities that have been assumed 
are neglected, joining the church tends to become a 
mere form. For instance, church attendance, which 
before has perhaps been due to parental authority, 
now becomes a matter of personal obligation. 

It should become a part of the departmental plans 


180 The Organization and Administration 


to increase in the pupils their sense of obligation 
toward the church’s service of worship and social 
fellowship and toward its effort for better living within 


and without the group. This can be done in several © 


ways. First, attention may be called to the church 


service, to things in the sermon of interest to these. 


pupils, to the music and its messages, to the meaning 
of the church building, and to the obligations church 
membership brings. It is difficult to stimulate real 
living interest in that part of church life that is 
utterly removed from the pupil’s world, and it must 
be recalled that the morning worship, in sermon and 
oftimes in its ritual, is far removed from these boys 
and girls. It may be possible to discuss with the 
entire department or with a committee from it 


what in the service was of interest to the pupils, what 


changes they would like to see made, and what things 
they would like to have their minister preach about. 
Out of these discussions the results may be carried 
back to those responsible for the preaching service. 
If the church school is rightly organized, worship 
services will be built up to meet the needs of all 
members of the church, of these pupils as well as of 
those who are older. 

Where space and workers make it possible, a 
church service separate in part from the main service 
may be built up’ in which, after all have worshiped 
together, those who are younger may assemble for 


their own instruction and participation. In most 


See The Church School, Athearn, pages 133-136, 


a " 


Of the Intermediate Department , 181 


churches, however, such an arrangement is impracti- 
cable, and that real interest may be developed and 
real loyalty to the church maintained, the pastor 
will be compelled to find a way for every service to 
minister to ‘‘these least.”’ 


INCORPORATING INTERMEDIATES INTO CHURCH 
ACTIVITIES 


By far the most effective means of developing their 
growing sense of loyalty is to give the pupils some 
part in the life of the church. In the chapter on 
service activities several possibilities of rendering 
help to the church were suggested. The yard may 
be kept in order, the building cleaned, and the books 
in place, flowers planted outside and cut flowers from 
woods or gardens placed on the pulpit, advertising for 
the church distributed, letters carried from the pastor 
to the sick and to newcomers, newcomers reported to 
the pastor, invitations distributed to the hotels of 
the community ,and other similar tasks carried out. 
These answer the double purpose of giving outlet to 
the growing altruistic or social impulse and of build- 
ing up church loyalty. They train in the investment 
of time, thought, and energy for the work of the 
church and, therefore, look toward leadership. 

- But a fuller participation in the life of the church 
of all its members under twenty-one is needed if the 
best results are to be attained. While the judgment 
of intermediate pupils is not mature, their presence on 
many of the church committees is not undesirable. 


182 The Organization and. Administration 





To know how the work of the church is put forward 
and to have a part in its work, if onlya silent and 
listening part, is the beginning of training in real ap- 
preciation and loyalty. It is possible to use these 
younger members on committees where activity is 
needed and to honor their fidelity by ge with 
them the responsibility. 

The church school should be financed by the 
church at large, that the pupils may be taught to dis- 
charge their financial responsibility to the church. 
If giving in the school is true giving, and not a species 
of self-support, each pupil may designate some part 
of his offering for the support of the local church. 
This will bring the responsibilities of church mem- 
bership closer home than if the pupil’s contributions 
go they know not whither. The special objects of 
the church’s benevolence—home and foreign missions, 
community philanthropy, of church improvement— 
may all be brought to the attention of the depart- 
ment and their financial aid sought.’ If this is the 
church school, it should, in its financial arrangements, 
seek to educate the pupils for church membership and 
in church membership. 


CORRELATION IN CHURCH WORK 


1. Within the church—-Much confusion arises in 
the minds of the young because the various organiza- 
tions of the church, working as separate units, bid for 
the pupil’s time and energy. Besides the Sunday 
school are the missionary societies for the children 


Of the Intermediate Depariment 183 








and young people, the various forms of young people’s 
organizations, and often other dissociated groups. 
Instead of the church presenting to the young a 
definite and well-correlated program, which would 
give a unified impact upon the mind, it insists on 
giving the impression of a multiplied number of 
separate groups. Each special agency of the church 
in a particular field contends for first place in the 
interest and support of the boys and girls. 

If we want the intermediates to grow up in the 
church, recognizing their obligations and discharging 
their duties, we shall have so to reorganize and inter- 
relate the various forms of instruction and of activi- 
ties as to make these boys and girls feel that the 
church is a coherent cosmos, not a confusing chaos. 
The church school, with its central board of education 
within the local church, its well-defined program to 
prevent overlapping, competition, friction, and waste 
is the best solution of this difficult problem. Mission- 
ary education, temperance education, devotional 
training, and active participation are needed. But 
is it not necessary to break up the unity developing 
in the lives of these pupils through the stupid and 
sometimes selfish efforts of several separate societies 
within the church? Just as there should be not a 
smattering of biblical instruction but a well-devel- 
. oped course for comprehending the scriptural narra- 
tive and its meanings, so there should be not a con- 
fused appeal from different “‘causes,’’ but a common 
emphasis showing different opportunities for life 


184 The Organization and Administration 





investment; not a multitude of voices urging confes- 
sion of Christ, but one consistent and cumulative 
appeal for public recognition of Jesus as Lord and 
Master. Such a unified program will make it more 
easy, more rational, more normal for the youth 
brought within these groups to declare himself for 
Christ and to ally himself actively with the organ- 
ized body of believers. 

2. Among the churches——A further strengthening 
bond in church loyalty is found in the codperation of 
the various churches of a given denomination within 
the same locality and of all the local churches through 
interdenomination activity. Too long has each Inter- 
mediate Department sat off by itself, as if it alone 
could solve the problems of the Christian life, ignor- 
ing other groups of the same years who are pursuing 
the same means toward the same ends. Similarity 
of organization within a given denomination makes 
possible the easy association of leaders and pupils of 
this department. Banquets, field days, picnics, and 
camps may be arranged in common. The give-and- 
take of social fellowship is excellent preparation for 
later denominational codperation among the pupils; 
and the exchange of ideas and of experience among: 
the adult leaders is certain to look toward greater 
efficiency in the local school. | 

The denomination has as its charge the care of its 
own young and should reserve the right to pass final 
judgment upon plans in their behalf. It would be 
stupid, however, to refuse to enter into interdenomi- 


Of the Intermediate Department — 185 





national activity with other like departments in the 
locality for council and study among the leaders, in 
community and other service activities among the 
pupils, and in social and recreational plans among 
both pupils and adults. Failure to plan together in a 
large way for all pupils of this age in any community 
is frequently the cause of the partial and ineffectual 
_ results achieved by our churches. 


COMMUNITY ENTERPRISES 


But the department will be derelict in its duty 
toward its pupils if it seeks only to ally them with 
the church organizations. The pupils live in the great 
community of which the church is only a part. To 
Christianize this larger community, as has already 
been observed, is the task of the church; and in this 
task the young people have a right to participate. 
In fact, their own spiritual growth will depend in part 
on their incorporation into this larger enterprise. 

To bring this about the leaders of intermediates 
will seek by every means to arouse sentiments of 
patriotism and community loyalty and will furnish 
every possible opportunity for participation in com- 
munity programs of welfare and of service. Ali that 
has been said in the chapter on service may well be 
repeated here. This is the time to direct the thought 
of these pupils to ways in which the'town or city may 
be improved physically, morally, and spiritually. 
Surveys of conditions may be aided by these pupils. 
Newcomers may be reported to the pastor. Christ- 


186 The Organization and Administration 


mas seals for the prevention of tuberculosis may be 
sold. Clean-up campaigns may be inaugurated. 
Campaigns for playgrounds may be aided by their 
efforts. The revival may be assisted by such house-to- 
house canvassing as the pastor may designate. Ad- 
vertising may be carried through the hands ofthe 
boys and girls. 

In the social programs of the deparilenee a place © 
may be made for learning essential court procedure 
through mock trials and for a city council. After 
due preliminary arrangement has been made, judges 
and officials willingly give time to explain the conduct 
of city affairs to groups of earnest young citizens. 
The special days of the State and of the nation may 
be remembered while the different political cam- 
paigns bring opportunity for studying the political 
issues that soon must command the thought of intel- 
ligent Christian voters. 

If these affairs are entered into, not in the spirit of 
something divorced from religion, but.as life itself, if 
the leader sees to it that well-advised findings of the 
pupils and well-deserved resolutions concerning pub- 
lic improvement are despatched to the proper author- 
ities, these experiences will be, not preparation for life 
at some far off time, but participation in life now. 
Not only willit give a sense of reality; it will be reality 
itself, 

Such discussions and eadh self-governing groups 
may prevent some outbreak of vice orlessen vicious- 
ness among others not of the group. 


Of the Intermediate Department 187 


Such community activity cannot well be carried on 
in ignorance of what other agencies are attempting 
and doing. Here it will be necessary to take council 
with every agency that is dealing with community 
welfare, especially with those which are actively set- 
ting the boys and girls of these ages at work, such as 
the public school and high school, the Scout organiza- 
tions, the Young Men’s and Young Women’s Chris- 
tian Associations, the associated charities, the local 
representatives of the Internatioanal Sunday School 
Council, the Anti-Tuberculosis Association, and other 
agencies too varied to mention by name. Com- 
munity work is too large and too complex to become 
effectual except as we all pull together. Moreover, 
as the years advance, these same pupils need more 
and more to become identified with these community 
organizations through which their Christian purposes 
may effectually express themselves. Here is fur- 
nished the natural opportunity to become acquainted 
with the means of community betterment and with 
the persons involved in the various enterprises. 
The leaders of the future will come from the intel- 
ligent participants of to-day. 


THE GOAL. OF IT ALL 


We need to remind ourselves again and yet again 
that the end of all our endeavors in this department 
is to start our pupils in right habits of living, right 
ways of thinking, and right attitudes toward the 
great facts of life. It is useless to think our work ac- 


188 The Organization and Administration . 


complished when we have organized the department, 
taught the lesson, or even have brought the young 
into the active membership of the church. We fol- 
low Christ that we may make this world what he 
would have it be. We bring our pupils to the Master, 
that, catching his spirit, they, too, may go forth to 
change this world into the likeness of that kingdom 
he had in mind and for which he laid down his life; 
and our task is not ended until we see them busy 
about his work. | 

If we would perpetuate the work that he began; if 
we would see the labor of our own hands brought to 
full fruition; if we would see the church and the civili- 
zation which, through these centuries, we have slowly 
been building up pass on to their legitimate and God- 
intended end, we must train the young to participate 
in the life of the church and of the community. Nay, 
we must inspire them to leadership that shall carry 
on to its full-rounded purpose the work begun. To 
this task we have consecrated ourselves; to this task 
let us not hesitate to dedicate the lives of those com- 
mitted to our care. 


QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW 


1. How is the church to secure its own future 
leadership? 

2. How does participation in the church school 
prepare for participation in the life of the church? 
In what sense is the church school the church? ¢ 

3. In what ways can the church utilize the efforts 
of the intermediates in its own work? 


Of the Intermediate Department 189 


4. How can boys and girls be helped to see the 
church as one enterprise rather than to give a divided 
loyalty to its several organizations? 

5. How may we prepare the pupils for participa- 
tion in community life and for community leadership? 


QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY 


1. List the activities within your own church 
which are open to the intermediates. How may the 
list be enlarged? 

2. In how far does the church service minister to 
the pupils of your department? What helpful 
changes to this end would you suggest? 

3. What activities for the community might the 
Intermediate Department of your church undertake? 

4. How would you go about organizing a field day 
for al! the Intermediate Departments of your com- 
munity? State each step in the process, including a 
list of events. 

5. Is Decision Day a part of the regular program of 
your school? What preparation is made forit? How 
is it followed up? What definite instruction for 
church membership is given? What course in the 
graded lessons is especially prepared for this purpose? 
Do all pupils come to the point of decision on the 
same day? How should decision for active church 
membership be pressed during these years? 

6. What in the programs of Scouts and other 
similar organizations provides training in community 
leadership? Is the church sharing in this work? 
Are the Christian men of your community lending 
themselves to it? 

7. If you live in a city with a chamber of com- 
merce, ask its secretary if it is undertaking to incor- 
porate the boys in a junior chamber of commerce, 


190 Organization and Administration 


What activities does this organization undertake? 
What desirable results are to be gained by this 
effort? 

8. In how far does your Sunday school. codperate 
with the activities of the public school? For instance, 
in the celebration of holidays, recreation for the 
pupils’ field days, camps, basketball, football, and 
tennis tournaments? What is being done jointly in 
behalf of establishing better standards in athletics? 
Is either organization developing individual talent 
and leadership in dramatics, choral music, art, debate, 
pageantry? 

9. If you are in a country school, consider what 
your Sunday school may do to develop community 
leadership through a boys’ and girls’ field day or a 
junior citizens’ town meeting, which shall consider 
good roads, good health, better schools, and com- 
munity recreation for the young. 

10. Write a paper giving the methods it program 
for organizing the field day suggested above, using 
the following outline: (1) Advertising the field day; 
(2) the program of events; (3) The rewards; (4) 
providing for the midday luncheon; (5) financing the 
project; (6) the results hoped for. 


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